By Richard Polen
sports@joplinglobe.com
Todd Paul and Cory Parr won the men’s doubles final Friday night at the 2009 Millennium Tennis Club $10,000 Men’s Futures in a match that lasted just 45 minutes.
Paul and Parr, both formerly of Wake Forest University, defeated Luis Diaz-Barriga and Robbye Poole 6-1, 6-2.
“It’s always nice to play with someone you’re comfortable with,” said Parr, who won the doubles championship last year in Joplin with Steven Forman, another former Wake Forest player who is taking time away from tennis this summer.
Paul was the first player in Wake Forest history to be named to the all-Atlantic Coast Conference team four straight seasons. He was graduated in 2006 and is the school’s all-time leader in singles victories.
Parr was all-ACC in 2007-08 as a junior and won the International Tennis Association National Indoors doubles championship with Forman in 2008.
“It’s just the third or fourth time we’ve played together,” Paul said. “But we came out of the same system, same coach. Anyone at Wake Forest can play with another Wake Forest player.
“We got a little better with every match,” he said. “We played well.”
During the match, both players used hand signals behind their backs to let each other know where to expect the serve.
“We’ve played together for a while,” Parr said, “so we give each other signals, kind of like a pitcher-catcher thing.”
Paul and Parr had defeated top-seeded Michael McClune and Greg Ouellette 6-3, 6-1 in Thursday’s semifinal and were confident going into the finals against Diaz-Barriga, who formerly played at the University of Texas, and Poole, who had played at the University of Mississippi.
“We knew that was going to be a really tough match,” Parr said of their semifinal victory. “We just wanted to stay focused, take it one point at a time.
“I’ve had some good luck here, making the doubles finals both times. Can’t complain.”
Their success after college has come while both are still adjusting to the professional level.
“The pro level is a lot harder,” Paul said. “I just try to keep improving. You have to be in better shape.
“In college, you play one match, then you have a week off. In the pros, you play every day.”
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Wake Forest way works for winning doubles team
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