Here's a quick player by player summary of 2017 from a statistical point of view. (player rankings are as of 12/25/2017).
- #1 Paola Longoria; what more can we say? In 2017, Paola did the following:
- won her 8th pro tour title, surpassing Michelle Gould for the most in ladies pro tour history
- won her 8th US Open title, double the next closest competitor ( Rhonda Rajsich)
- She finished the 2016-17 season 42-1, with her only loss in the semis of the season's final tournament to her
long-time doubles partner Samantha Solis.
Her dominance over the Ladies tour is as strong as Kane's dominance on the IRT: she's lost just three times on the LPRT
in the last 7 seasons combined. Longoria is now 21-0 this season and 391 - 29 for her career, a .931 winning percentage. She still trails the legendary Michelle (Gilman) Gould on the career W/L percentage table, though it is noted that Gould's career is somewhat incomplete in the database right now.
So far in 2017, she's 5 for 5; five events entered, five tournaments won. Heading into 2018 she's on a 21-match
winning streak and she's dropped just 3 games on the season. These 5 pro tournaments push her total win on tour to 80, nearly double the next
closest competitor in the database (Lynn Adams).
Perhaps the scariest thing about Longoria is the fact that she's just 28; it isn't inconceivable to see her maintain this
level of dominance on tour for another decade.
- #2 Rhonda Rajsich has risen to #2 at the mid-way point of the 2017-18 season after finishing last season #6. She
missed a number of events last year following the passing of her father, but has returned with a vengeance and had made four
semi finals out of the first five tournaments this year. Despite just turning 39, she is in great position to return to a top 4
ranking. She had a streak of 16 straight seasons being ranked in the top four (including four #1s and six #2s) broken last year but
she's in good position to return to the top four for the season.
Fun fact: Rajsich's 15 career victories over Longoria represent more than half of Longoria's losses in her entire pro career.
And Rajsich beat Longoria as recently as mid-2017, beating her for the Pan Am championships in Costa Rica, so there's still
competition at the top for Paola.
Rhonda is now 10-5 on the season, and she sits 8th in career W/L percentage, with a career 424-146 record. She's sitting 2nd in career appearances
and should overtake Cheryl Gudinas for most career appearances on tour by season's end. And her career 424 wins is easily
the best in the known history of the tour.
- #3 Jessica Parrilla sits 3rd at the midway point of the season, but has the 2nd most points for the season thus far. She made her first
career final in the season's opening event (where she was seeded 2nd), and has made three other semi-finals this year. She was a
pretty consistent semi-finalist last season (8 semis in 12 events), and has picked up right where she left off.
She is now 11-5 for the season, greatly improving upon her career 63-50 W/L percentage. For her career, Parrilla currently sits
just behind under-rated 1990s star Robin Levine and just ahead of pioneer Jennifer Harding at 29th on the all-time W/L percentage.
- #4 Frederique Lambert missed the first two events of the season due to school commitments, but then promptly made the
finals of the next three. She lost to #1 Longoria in the final in each case ... but also had a number of statement wins over her
closest competitors for the #2 spot on tour (to which she ascended to finish off the 2016-17 season). Lambert joined an
exclusive club in the 2016-17 season; she became the 28th (known) Pro tour winner in the history of the tour. She continues
to look for pro win #2.
She's now made the final in 9 of the last 13 pro tournaments she's entered.
She's 10-3 in the new year, with all 3 losses coming in finals to Longoria. And she now has a career 102-60 record and has improved
upon her career winning percentage each of the last three seasons
Lambert's career .630 winning percentage ranks her 15th all-time, just behind Kerri (Stoffregen) Wachtel and just ahead of the legendary Vicki Panzeri.
- #5 Alexandra Herrera made the final of the season's second event by virtue of an epic win over Parrilla (13-11 in the 5th). It was
just her third career pro final, and she's still looking to break through with a pro victory. Despite this finals appearance, she
has fallen to the #5 spot; which mean's she's been matched up with Rajsich three tournaments in a row and has come up short each time.
Herrera finished last season at #5 and is on track to match her career-high rank again this year.
She's 8-5 on the season and now 46-42 for her career, tied for 36th in tour history (just ahead of Tammy (Brown) Brockbank
and just behind Canadian Lori-Jane Powell).
- #6 Samantha Solis has yet to play an event this season but remains ranked 6th; by recent posts on Facebook though she seems
nearly ready to come back from her shoulder injury. She's going to have to hustle in the new year to maintain her top 10 ranking;
she's working on a streak of 5 straight seasons inside the top 5.
For her career, she's 150-82, which has her ranked 13th in tour history, just behind 1980s star and former tour champ Caryn McKinney
and just ahead of former US Open champ Kerri (Stoffregen) Wachtel.
Solis is the last person to put a loss on Longoria, winning an epic semi final in the final 2016-17 event this past June in Chihuahua.
We look forward to getting her back on tour and challenging the top players.
- #7 Natalia Mendez has exploded onto the Pro racquetball scene, making her debut at the beginning of the 2016 season and now, inside
of two pro seasons, being ranked 7th. She posted a career best semi-final showing at the US Open this year with a career-best win
over Parrilla. She's also stretched Lambert to 5 games in each of their last two meetings, so odds are Mendez is in line for a breakthrough
to the Finals this season.
Mendez "graduated" from the junior ranks in November 2015 by winning 18U Junior worlds, so she's no stranger to high level competition.
Now, before her 21st birthday she's already making waves on the pro tour.
- #8 Cristina Amaya made her second career final in March, but has yet to break through even to the semis in the new year. She's fallen
at the Quarterfinal stage in four of the five tournaments so far, and might need some bigger wins to improve upon her #7 finish
last season. She did have a nice win at the 2017 Bolivarian games, beating several LPRT veterans en route to the title. She's 5-5
on the season after going 12-11 last season.
- #9 Adriana Riveros broke through and finished #10 last season ... and is holding steady so far in 2017-18. She's yet to match
her career best semi-finals appearance so far this season, but she's showed some promise. She took a game off of Longoria (a rare
feat) this season, and several tough 5-game losses to higher ranked opponents. So there's some room for improvement for sure.
- #10 Carla Munoz had a breakthrough 2016-17 season, making three semi-finals with good wins over Rajsich and Parrilla. So far
though in 2017-18, she's not been able to match this feat, and is in danger of falling out of the top 10 (she finished 8th last
season). She's 4-5 on the season so far.
- #11 Nancy Enriquez returned to the courts in April 2017 after a 6 year hiatus and immediately served notice of her
capabilities; she's made three quarterfinals already this calendar year and has several wins over top seeds. She's moved
her ranking to the cusp of the top 10 and should be in a good position to guarantee a first ever top 10 tour finish if she
continues her winning ways.
- #12 Monserrat Mejia made a semi earlier this season with a nice win over Herrera. She's only played two pro events but sits 12th
on tour, a pretty amazing feat considering she still has one year of juniors left. She is the reigning 18U Mexican and World
champion, having beaten Ana Gabriela Martinez in this year's 18U final.
- #13 Adrienne (Fisher) Haynes is playing in her 18th pro season and still hanging tough. She had a quarter and a semi-finals
appearance last season but hasn't had such luck this year, falling in the early stages of each tournament this season. She finished
just outside the top 10 last season and will need some results if she wants to return to the top 10 for the 10th time in her career.
- #14 Susy Acosta finished 9th last season but has struggled so far in the new season. She's 1-4 for the 2017-18 season and has dropped
out of the top 10. She's looking to regain her form and return to the top 10 in her twentieth pro season.
- #16 Ana Gabriela Martinez, like her fellow rising junior Mejia, made a semi this year beating several experienced pros along the
way. Martinez lost to Mejia in this year's 18U Juniors final, but beat Mejia in 2016's 16U world championship. With any luck,
these two will continue to battle both on the international and pro tour fronts for years to come.
- #18 Sheryl Lotts has been hanging outside the top 10 on tour for years, but has pushed her way closer than ever before
to a top 10 finish. With a quarter final apperance in March and some good results so far this season, Lotts is making a statement
on tour.
- #19 Jenny Daza has played the tour infrequently for years, representing Boliva internationally 15 different times in the last
decade. But she's made an effort to compete on tour this season, and its paying off. She made a quarterfinal in the season opener in
San Luis Potosi and has the 11th most points on the season right now. With a couple more solid results she can push her way into the top 10.