Simo-Van Winkle stun Olympic bronze medalists to make Guadalajara main draw
GUADALAJARA, Mexico — Thursday seemed as good a day as any for Savvy Simo and Abby Van Winkle to win the biggest match of their respective careers.
They had already flown to Mexico from playing a NORCECA event in the Dominican Republic for this week’s Beach Pro Tour Guadalajara Challenge.
Why not win a few while they were out here?
Win they did.
The morning match during Thursday’s qualifier came and went easy enough, a 21-10, 21-12 sweep over Japan’s Kana Motomura and Nayu Motomura. But then came the final task, the Boss Level of Challenge qualifiers: Switzerland’s Joana Mader and Anouk Verge-Depre. Olympic bronze medalists. Sponsored by Red Bull. European Champs. The fact that they are in qualifiers, with a resume such as that, speaks to the depth of this Beach Pro Tour.
A 14-10 lead in the first set was quashed, tied at 18-18. That is typically the point a young team with limited experience together would break. Would accept that it was an admirable run, but the veterans would prove too consistent, too strong. But Simo and Van Winkle did the darnedest thing: They held on, squeezing out a 24-22 win in the first, parlaying that into a convincing 21-17 victory in the second.
Just like that, in the span of 41 minutes, Simo and Van Winkle, her rookie partner who had played in exactly one Challenge event prior to Guadalajara, stunned the world No. 16, advancing into the weekend’s main draw.
“What a feeling,” Simo said. “It’s pretty wild to be able to even compete against a team like that, let alone beat them.”
For Simo, the win over Verge-Depre and Mader is perhaps a tie for the best of her career, a toss-up with a first round shocker over Kelly Cheng and Sarah Sponcil in AVP Atlanta of 2021 alongside Megan Kraft. For Van Winkle, there is no doubt: Thursday is the biggie. The 24-year-old has just five AVP main draws to her name. Last week, in the Dominican Republic, she made her NORCECA debut, coming home with a bronze medal. Well, to be more accurate, she went straight to Mexico, stuffing that bronze medal in some compartment of one of her bags to be hung up later.
Suffice it to say, the 6-foot-2 blocker is just getting started.
“It’s an unbelievable feeling to beat an Olympic level team,” Van Winkle said. “I was super stoked to even have the opportunity to be playing in this tournament, especially with Savvy, who I have always felt so comfortable playing with.”
Savvy Simo and Abby Van Winkle/NORCECA photo
Theirs has been a winding partnership, beginning, if briefly, at UCLA, going 13-2 on court 1 before COVID shut down the 2020 season. They’ve since played one-offs in Chicago (2021), Denver (2022), and, by a stroke of luck, here in Guadalajara. Simo was initially signed up to play with Toni Rodriguez, with whom she competed in Challenges in Recife and Saquarema, Brazil. A week ago, Rodriguez pulled out, and Van Winkle was only able to sub in because the qualifier didn’t fill up.
Sometimes a last-minute scramble works out for the best.
“She’s one of my best friends and I feel like we have such great chemistry on the court and I think there’s still so much room to grow,” Simo said. “We are using some of our UCLA offensive and defensive systems as well as expanding our limits and learning new things. Beating that Swiss team today was an unreal feeling, especially having Abby by my side. There were lots of emotions and I’m so proud of her for stepping in and balling out on that stage.”
They weren’t the only ones, either. Brooke Sweat and 18-year-old Kennedy Coakley landed no small upset of their own, sweeping fourth-seeded Puerto Ricans Allanis Navas and Maria Gonzalez, 21-17, 21-19. This weekend will now mark the first Challenge main draw for both Van Winkle and Coakley, who is committed to play for USC next year.
“We felt free to play our game because there were no expectations and just played like we had nothing to lose,” Van Winkle said. “It is so much fun competing against some of the best teams because it definitely allows me to see where I match up and pushes me to be better and see where I can further improve my own game.”
The education will continue at 9 a.m. Friday when Simo and Van Winkle match up with another Swiss pair, top-seeded Nina Brunner and Tanja Huberli. Coakley and Sweat play at the same time against Canada’s Sarah Pavan and Molly McBain.
While no landmark victories were required for Tri Bourne and Chaim Schalk to advance into the main draw, two hard-fought wins were demanded — and two were delivered. Bourne and Schalk came back to beat Spain’s Javier Huerta and Alejandro Huerta in the morning (21-23, 21-17, 15-12), then hung on to sweep Norway’s Jo Gladsoy Sunde and Markus Mol — at 22 years old, the youngest of the Mol brothers — 21-19, 21-19.
They will play Mexico’s Miguel Sarabia and Gabriel Cruz at 2 p.m., the same time Chase Budinger and Miles Evans will match up with Brazil’s Pedro Salgado and Guto Carvalhaes. Trevor Crabb and Theo Brunner have a rematch with Javier Bello and Joaquin Bello at 1 p.m. They last played in the ninth-place rounds in the Recife Challenge, where the Bello Brothers won in a wild upset, 14-21, 24-22, 15-13.
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