2016-09-18 00:14:00 CET
No stopping Bourne/Hyden as they crush countrymen to book semi spot
He might be the oldest player in the tournament at 43 years old, but John Hyden is loving life at the top of the game.
Together with partner Tri Bourne they have become the American heroes of the Swatch World Tour Finals in Toronto as they crushed compatriots Lucena/Dalhausser in straight sets to book a place in Sunday’s semifinals.
“I love the fact I can still play at this level…it doesn’t make me feel any younger though!” John laughed. “It makes me feel good to come out and do what we just did but I won’t feel so great in 20 minutes!”
The duo are the only men’s team in the competition that didn’t strut their stuff on the Copacabana – and John explained that was a major factor in upping their game on the banks of Lake Ontario.
“It’s kind of our Olympics this week,” he said. “We didn’t get to go, it’s our fault, we didn’t play well enough to make it there. This is our last and biggest tournament of the year and we will be giving it our all.
“We’ve proved we’re good enough by reaching the final four and hopefully we can continue that tomorrow.”
Tri, who is 16 years younger than his teammate, added: “It feels great, it’s exactly what we need to end the season. There’s been a lot of ups and downs and the most important thing is to finish on a strong note…but we’re not finished yet!
“We’ve finished just short in a few tournaments this year so success here would make up for all of that.”
In the other quarterfinal on Center Court, Olympic champions Alison/Bruno made light work of Polish pair Fijalek/Prudel.
The Brazilians were in imperious form as the Poles struggled to make an impression as Alison/Bruno raced into a straight sets victory. They are now one step closer to repeating the feat of winning the Swatch World Tour Finals for a second year running.
Can they do it? Find out tomorrow on Super Sunday!
We discover which teams served, spiked and sided-out the best…
Sometimes there are more important things in life than beach volleyball