Hunter Johnson vs Federico Staksrud at the Zimmer Biomet Cape Coral Open

Zero, zero. Just wide for Fed. Side out. By the way, congrats to Christian Alshon, who didn't defend his title here, but did win bronze against Jada Villiers over on Grandstand, as well as Leigh Jansen. Zero, zero. Game win over Catherine Perretto earlier today. Side out. Yeah, the wild thing about this one is these two haven't played recently. You have to go all the way back to the middle of last year. Zero, zero. Hunter Johnson won gold in that match in June. Two games sweep over Fed. Fed does lead the head-to-head, though. Point. Pretty. It was pretty, and it was the backhand that set up the forehand pass, so that's good news for Staxrude. And we'll just see. What's the coming forward frequency for Hunter Johnson here? Staxrude will be coming in as often as he can. Oh! Yes, about the passing shots. There's one. Man, because the one before that, cross-court, it was an amazing volley from Staxrude, and he loved his next volley, too. It's just, Hunter is that dialed right now. Foot speed of these two, so fun to watch, too. Yes, laterally. Yes. That's a much different whole use of your anatomy going side-to-side as opposed to front-to-back. Staxrude's been in good position a couple times and just pushed a volley because of the foot speed of Hunter. He's trying to make it perfect. Point. Well, an on-the-run two, Hunter, is so good, so there's quite the predicament there as well. Turn was deep. Two-one. I love the amount of tee serves we're getting, especially when the servers are on the left. Side-out. What's the distinction there between left-side to right? Well, if you're right-handed, then your swing path is right down the line as opposed to fighting your body, which is in the way, so if I serve tee from the right side, I put a slider on it so it hits and goes away, whereas if I'm serving from the left side, bang it down the middle with pace. Hunter utilizing a soft reset to the backhand side to get back in the point. Well played. A little unlucky there for Fed too. Yeah, that's the third volley where I like the point construction. Just gotta make it. Two-one. Side-out. One-two. There you saw Stachsrud come in dead center, take some of those angles, the dips that set up then the pass and make it more difficult for Hunter, so I like that idea. Two-two. Nice. Anywhere you go on the court, Hunter doesn't force it. That was interesting to go there two times in a row with good hands of Stachsrud, and I'm sure Stachsrud's like, well, there's no way he's gonna do it again. Double down. Hand control and a nice serve on that one. Went body again, so the reasoning for that is it's kind of like a soccer penalty shot. He might just move out of the way guessing, and then secondly, you don't want him to hit a volley extended where the arms are in perfect position, so interesting choices that were effective for Hunter. Oh, man. I was gonna say, why is he going right back to fed in the same corner, but Hunter had different things in mind. I mean, that's the discipline of, I know that forehand is so deadly that if he can run over there, I'd rather try and make it, even though it looks like that court is wide open. Two-two. Oh, it's good. I think Hunter surprised himself with that reset ball out of desperation. Just terrific, and you know, styles make fights, and that's why this matchup is very interesting because Stacksruden will not, occasionally will play a baseline rally, but he's gonna be coming in, and we're gonna get to see can Hunter consistently hit those targets. Wow, big serve from Hunter Johnson skips away from fed, but you talked about that, Federico did in his post-match interview with us of just how fun it is to have all the different styles in the game now. I think it makes it more interesting to watch. No doubt about it. For the play, I would imagine. Wow. Point. Backhand pass secured, make it five-two, Hunter Johnson. Yeah, Hunter brought almost every backhand cross-court, so I totally understand why fed was leaning a little bit that way. That was pretty. Five-two. Point. Just wide. Referee timeout. We have a challenge of the out call. The result of the rally is .62. We'll now proceed to video review. After review, the result of the rally stands. The ball is out. Free challenge lost. No free challenges remaining. One free challenge remaining. We'll resume play at .62. Time in. Hunter has served big in this match. Let's see if he continues, and has he ever. Touch, fed is on it, just overcooks it. And there's that commitment to make him beat me with his second best wing there. Every volley back in the backhand. I love that discipline. And the unpredictability of Hunter, too. Mixing up his pace variation, shot selection. Yeah, the talent has never been up for question. It's those nuances. Confidence. When that confidence came in 2024 in Atlanta, you and I called the match. It was a nervy one. Hunter Johnson and Connor Garnett, who was gonna take it? That was the first career title for Hunter, of validating performance for him to get, not only the title, but those points to help repel him from the 47 seed. Yeah, these two, in those 14 matches, played a round of 32 matches several times. Which explains the head-to-head to some degree, too. Fed winning nine of those matches to Hunter's five. Of course, early history to that as well. But different game, and Hunter has changed in a lot of ways. Oh, what a volley from Fed, and Hunter got it. Yeah, and then he tried to be too cute. That's a time where you do wanna hit it to the forehand, because he had time, and he wants to not hit it to him when he's along the baseline. But Fed's already up at the line, so that would've been a 45-degree angle run back to find the forehand, so tough miss for Hunter there. Oh my, tagged in the kitchen, or maybe that the ball was going deep. It did not, another look. So insane court coverage from Hunter. Loses the chapeau, and it's going to be more complicated. Oh boy, that mouse again going really heavy down Hunter's forehand alleyway right now. Yeah, so if the return is short, cross-court, Fed's not gonna hit a backhand. He's got plenty of time. So we saw the exact same pattern, two rallies in a row, and let's see what happens here with Hunter's return choice. Six-seven, side out. Finally a miss from Fed, who's heating up. Yep, he's got Selena, the fiancee, and a host at these Florida tournaments, man. The entourage that shows up with the players, I love it. The angle from Fed, the forehand's so dangerous as we know too well. Yeah, off script there for Hunter. He did get a shorter ball, but didn't get it far enough into the backhand side, and statured inside-out forehand is just nasty. Yes, it is, 17 titles he earned with said forehands. Six-seven. Nine of those coming in 2024. Oh my, can't miss, seven apiece. I mean, Hunter stripes this an inch from, that is a short hop pass an inch inside the line from a ball that was an inch inside the baseline. That is special. Seven-seven, side out. Oh no, Feddie's in. Disbelief. Yeah. Hasn't called a challenge yet, though. I mean, Hunter. No, I don't think he got the body language from Entourage that, oh, but he's, okay, he's. Referee timeout. We have a challenge to see if the ball landed out prior to being played. The result of the rally is seven-seven. Will not proceed to video review. Ladies and gentlemen, it was an out-called challenge. The result of the rally is overturned. The ball was in. Free challenge lost. No free challenges remaining. No free challenges remaining for a resumed play at .87. Ladies and gentlemen, let's go, Onesha. Time in. The enforcer. Eight-seven. Might have hit an out ball there. Fed's thinking about that one down the line. Yeah, I don't know with the wind, if the wind and the hook would have been enough. It would have been so close. Had to play it. Seven-eight, point. Balls from the baseline. Hunter Johnson ties it back up at eight. Eight-eight. He's opening up the court. Hunter Johnson, cook it from the baseline. And then goes body again and Saksrud isn't ready and lets it go and it's in there. Saksrud's asking if he has a timeout, which he does. Let's see if he uses it. Timeout, receiver, nine-eight. He does. And the intentions of both players. That was a great third from Hunter Johnson. Not much could have done with that. Side out. Off the tape. Yeah, so that's the one thing that can control a little bit of the side to side. Again, another nice middle deep return from Saksrud. Obviously got a little love off the tape there. Eight-nine. So good. Right back to it. Side out. So it's interesting on those short cross-court backhands from Hunter, Fed had pulled those down the line to the forehand and had success. He's gone inside out back to the backhand a couple of times and Hunter's met the challenge. So that's a shot I'm going to keep my eye on for the rest of this one. Point. He's looking for the wind on that one. He called it out. Or the wind, or. What's the call? Planing to the wind. I thought I heard it now. Perhaps. Yeah, the wind is not his friend down the line there. Eight-nine. Point. Momentum swinger there, potentially. That is rearranging the shrubberies on the far side over here. Thank you for putting them back in place. This is amazing. Do a little landscaping. Pro player by day. Yeah, I mean, I'm sure Lowe's has some openings right around the corner here. Gave a shout out with some chicken. Yes, I know. Solid court from a local establishment here as well. Dynamic man. Trying to shovel it cross court. Couldn't get there. Yeah, look at Hunter decide to, and that's, he does that on occasion. He'll return and come in, not very often, but at strategic times. Worked very well there. Nine-nine. Side out. Nine-nine. Just fine. Side out. It was a little surprising he went back to the forehand there. First one okay, second one flirting with disaster, but again, the wind is gonna pull the ball that way. That's why down the line from where Hunter's is on the forehand and cross court for Stachsrud is going to have the wind play a role on the shot. Mile just short. Side out. Yeah, we almost had an ATP passing shot winner there because of the angle that Stachsrud put on that one. Wow. Stalemate here. Yes. Nine-all. Nine-nine. Wow. Federico earns game points. So Hunter tries to come in again, but it's short and easy for Hunter, and Fed is not, so Fed is not happy about Hunter banging the ball behind his landscaping over there. And he just says, I get technical warnings for when I do this. And now he's having to move everything again and dig. This is wild. So we'll see if Onisha reprimands him, but Fed's like, if I do that, you give me a technical warning. Hunter hit it over there, and then it ends up behind the video board for the second time, so. Send me back there a third time and see what happens, Hunter. Ten-nine. Game point. This return will make Hunter pay for that. Point game, 11-nine. And Federico with some sass to end game one, Dave. Yes, a lot of sass. A lot of fun though, that was a very fun, just watching the styles come to life here. Couple errors at the end from Hunter, and that goes the other way. Fed, one game away from gold. We'll be right back to discuss next. I'm in. So, represent Texas. Zero-zero. Side out. Ball was deep from Hunter Johnson on that one, I do think it was. Chippy end. Yes. Of game one. For Federico. Zero-zero. And Hunter, we'll see. I know, it got chippy, but Hunter threw a return with that. Side out. So, with the wind in Hunter's face here, all the dips and dives should be even better, because you can use that wind as a backboard. Zero-zero. Side out. Hunter is now deciding to put a little more pressure on the return here on Stacks Road. Zero-zero. Geez. Point. Just can't cover it all. Well, that's brilliant from Hunter. One-zero. All right. Like the response to start. Two-zero. Point. I mean, as good a three rally look as you can have in singles, because that was a good return. Use that backboard I talked about and threw that right in Fed's feet. Side out. Yep, the ball's moving on you, Hunter. It's gonna happen. Looks like we're gonna have one of those breezy Florida days throughout, so players are just gonna have to adjust. Zero-three. Just wide. Side out. Hunter trying to find the backhand. Yeah, so the inside out is going to carry with the wind both deeper and wider for Fed, so he's gonna have to just adjust a little bit here on this side. Look at this serve. Point. Tripped Fed up, too. Yeah, gets the exact, that same jet stream. Four-zero. Badirico, Badirico. The IQ of these players who realize spins in certain ways to use the wind to their favor. Not sure what Amicia was yelling to Fed about. Maybe where the ball ended up. Maybe we're helping him with that right now. Zero-four. There was the incident, that was weird. Point. One-four. Oh, too good. Took a little off of it. Perfect spin, perfect pace. Yeah, because the backhand was holding Stachsrud in there to finally find the footwork to get to a forehand, and then I think Hunter's like, okay, you're gonna pull that down the line, and he went back the other way again. That was special. Two-four. Point. And there's why he is so good at his style. He does not miss opportunities. Saw that ball go off the tape. Hunter's head has to go down. He pushes forward. A lot of players would have stayed back and taken that next ball off the bounce, and then you're not in nearly as good a position. Nice, but second decision, so instinctual for a player like Fed. Uh-oh, Pater is using a pool-like approach. He banked it off the camera guys to get the ball over there. I wonder if that would have gone somewhere. Four-four. Fed didn't notice that, or he might have thrown a fit. Side out. Four-four. Yeah! Point. Hunter Johnson. Five-four. Cross-court beauty for Hunter Johnson. Love the combination of what he did with the serve to take Federico way out of there. So then, angle is really tough back cross-court if Saxbury wants to do that with the wind. So he takes it down the line, but then there's a lot of court to cover and just mauled into the open court. That's really good. As the groans get louder and add syllables, it's good news if you're a Hunter Johnson fan. That's what Thomas pointed out yesterday too. The louder Hunter Johnson gets, the more he heats up. Implement our sport, and we're gonna just keep having to build them bigger and taller, and see more events. One of our teammates that's working on that showed me what they were going to do here potentially next year, and I'm excited about that. Yeah, I was gonna reference that. Connor Prudhoe posted some photos of the architectural scores. Tell us more. Yeah, so higher, deeper, and potentially building something bigger, not exactly here. So this is great. On the campus, but just in a different spot. Love that. I wonder if there's anything you can do to insulate for wind at a place like this too, that sometimes, I mean, that might be a futuristic idea for some of these stadiums, but we're still outdoors, so I imagine there's not a perfect solution for that. Points it in there and chases it. Love that from Stachert. I dare you to beat me. Six, seven. Point. Ebbs and flows of singles or something else here, and now Stachert has a chance, because obviously he knows the talent of the gentleman on the other side. When you can see just, if I can play four good points somewhere, we don't have to mess with the third game here. Three points went by in a minute. Seven, seven. Maybe less than. The purpose behind that. Because that was a one-handed push. Used the wind perfectly when he ran down that backhand. What a shot from Stachert. Where the return goes, and that's the win or lose a rally. This is Fed's day-to-day, the way he's been playing. And you see that he cheats a little to make sure he covers that backhand, and Hunter didn't get it in the corner, because it's hard to do that when the wind is gonna bring it to the forehand. Here it is again. A inside-out forehand for a championship point. And it's interesting that Hunter has chosen to come in at crunch time here, so not feeling great about his more, what he's done most of the week, quite frankly, is staying back more. Ten, seven. Not going down yet. Inside-out. Got him to hit a backhand. Great. A tough task so far. Seven, ten. The ball was out before that, so that's why, yeah. The crowd was devastated. Yeah, the groans of that were, that's why. Ten, seven. Championship point number two. Oh, no. Which way is it? Federico takes it. Hold on, hold on, hold on, hold on. Okay, no. Ladies and gentlemen. Are we challenging? Yes, for sure. We're challenging. Well, you have to. Hold on, ladies and gentlemen. The second, ladies and gentlemen. Referee timeout. We have a challenge of the end ruling. The result of the rally is 11-7. We'll now proceed to video review. Just came from Asia. After reviewing the results of the rally stands, the ball was in. Point game match, 11-7. Hunter throws a souvenir into the crowd there, but what a performance from Stachsrud, we called him church when he just showed up on Sunday and won all the titles he talked about. And today, I think Hunter could have done a few things a little bit better, but today. Yes, he was. And we will go court side next to crown Federico, the champion of Cape Coral here in 2026. Stay with us. Welcome back everybody to the Zimmer Biomet Cape Coral Open. Federico Stachsrud gets it done in two and gets himself a golden birthday gift. Congrats to Fed. He's at the top of singles. Once again, take it away, Michelle. Dave, thanks so much. And he wasn't even supposed to play singles at this event. Last minute decision. You came here from Asia, Fed, and 18 titles later here today. What is the significance of this moment with a little jet lag behind you two? Yeah, I mean, I don't know if it was Liv or Dylan that I texted and they asked me like, partners for the tournament, we always do this. Singles, yes or no? I said, no, not singles this time. And then the draw comes out and Dave is like, you're in the singles draw. I'm like, all right, I guess I'll play. So that was pretty cool. I was not expecting it. But let me give a quick shout out to one of our fellow competitors, Grayson Golding. He had a little, you know, we were a little scared there. He's in the hospital. He's feeling much better. Saw a video of him yesterday. So we're gonna, you know, send some prayers for him and shout out to Hunter that actually told me to give me this already. So remind me. So yeah, we love Grayson. We love having him here in the tour. So hopefully a quick recovery for him. Yeah, well said. He had a couple of strokes and he is okay. It's reversible. So thank you for acknowledging that, Fed. Back to your side of the court too. I know you have the support of not only your fellow competitors, but you've got family in the crowd. Your fiance, what does it mean to win gold? Maybe unexpectedly for you, it's singles in front of this great crowd and your family. Yeah, I mean, honestly, it's much easier to play than to be around me on a tournament week. I'm a pain in the ass, honestly, the whole week. I act like a baby. So, I mean, they did the hard job, honestly. Raquel, same thing. Like, she's like always there, you know, with us. Beto, my trainer, he's like a machine. Always like pushing me at the limits. That's why I can run around the court like this. You know, my fiance, I mean, nothing to say. Like, she's doing the hard work. Honestly, I'm not doing anything. And my sister, my parents, you know, always supporting. And yeah, this one is for them for sure. Love it. Well, at least you're self-aware, Fed. We appreciate it. Congratulations. Please give it up for Federico capturing his 18th career singles title, creating a dynasty in his name. And we welcome back to the stage, the mayor of Cape Coral, John Gunter, here to present the trophy. John. Thank you very much. You know, it's an honor to present this trophy to you. I know you've done a lot of hard work to get here and we're glad you're here. And one thing, you know, I want to thank everybody again for coming out. Thank you for attending the tournament and not only congratulations for your win, but happy birthday. I think he'll take that every time as a birthday gift, Dave Fleming. No doubt about it. Great win for Federico Staxrude. So, Feddy back at the top, hugs and birthday well wishes to himself here as he's going to take the title out of here as the singles gold medalist. So, two down, three to go. Here we go with mixed doubles. It's going to be spectacular. The top team, Ben and Anna Lee versus Anna Bright and Peyton Patrick.