Hagen Smith, Robbie Page win battle of the legends

It was the 2021 AVP Manhattan Beach Open that looked, in some ways, an awful lot like the Manhattan Beach Opens of the early ‘80s. There, at 3:30 in the afternoon, in the final round, was Sinjin Smith and Randy Stoklos vs. Mike Dodd.

For four straight years, from 1982-1985, Dodd played Smith and Stoklos in the finals of the Manhattan Open. Dodd won all four.

On Thursday afternoon, they were once again pitted against one another – coaching opposing teams in the final round of the qualifier. Smith, alongside his old partner, Stoklos, coached his son, Hagen, and Robbie Page, who is making a comeback after a small sabbatical from the sport. Dodd coached legendary indoor player David Lee and Seain Cook.

It was Smith’s team who prevailed this year, as Hagen and Page won 21-19, 21-17, completing a three-match day in which they didn’t drop a single set.

“It was a tough road, playing against real competition, including two-time Olympic medalist David Lee and Seain Cook for the final match,” Page said. “What made it extra special was seeing the legend Mike Dodd in their coach’s box on their side and having Randy Stoklos and Sinjin Smith on our side. Honoured to be on that court.”

It’s only Page’s second AVP in the past five years. After playing six events in 2016, making just a little north of $7,000 in prize money, Page took a look at the finances and knew it didn’t quite add up. So he took a few years off and built a tea business, Tenzo Tea, which is doing well enough now that he can return to the beach.

It has been an excellent return.

In Atlantic City on July 23-25, Page and Smith finished third at an AVP event, emerging from the qualifier then, too. In Atlanta one week ago, they were knocked out in the second round by Avery Drost and Miles Partain, who would go on to finish ninth. And now they’re in the granddaddy of them all: the main draw in Manhattan Beach.

“It’s been five years since I’ve played this event and it feels like a lifetime ago,” Page said. “We’re back, baby.”

Page and Smith open main draw play against Billy Allen and Andy Benesh, who finished fifth in Atlanta. Seven other teams qualified as well on Thursday. In a fun American-Canadian pairing, Avery Drost and Grant O’Gorman qualified, winning all three matches in straight sets. Jake Landel and Lev Priima made their first main draw of the season, beating Travis Mewhirter and Adam Roberts, 19-21, 21-19, 15-12 to secure their bid. Andrew Dentler and Jon Ferrari, playing in their first event together, qualified, beating Mike Groselle and David Vander Meer, the Cinderellas of Atlanta, 13-21, 21-17, 15-7.

On the women’s side, Brazilian-American Maria Clara Salgado and UCLA star Lexy Denaburg qualified for the second straight week, surviving a pair of close scares early before beating the all-UCLA team of Savvy Simo and Abby Van Winkle. Simo was later picked up by fellow UCLA Bruin Zana Muno, who needed an injury sub for Crissy Jones. Jones and Muno finished third in Atlanta a week ago.

Jessica Gaffney and Tory Paranagua made their first main draw of the season, sweeping all three matches to move on. Same goes for Aurora Davis and Jessica Sykora, who are playing in their first event together.

Another college pairing, the tenth-seeded team of UCLA’s Devon Newberry and USC’s Delaynie Maple, also qualified, beating Annika Rowland and Teegan Van Gunst, 21-18, 21-18, to become the highest seeded team to make main draw.

Main draw begins at 8 am Pacific Time, and all stadium court matches are being streamed on NBC’s Peacock platform.