Sarasota Open joins Florida Grand Prix points race with 49 players

The Sarasota Open put 49 players into the Florida Racquetball Grand Prix race at the Sarasota YMCA from July 10 to July 12, giving Lap 2 of the state series real points value instead of a routine weekend title chase. With full brackets and Grand Prix points on the line, every match in Sarasota carried weight in the season standings.

That made the stop more than a local tournament. The 2026 Florida Racquetball Grand Prix is the first-ever racquetball Grand Prix in the state, built around four tour stops across Florida and a points system that rewards results at every event. Sarasota followed the opening leg in Ocala in May and came in the middle of a calendar that will finish with an outdoor stop in Eustis in December, before a tentative early-2027 series championship that still needs USA Racquetball approval.

The Sarasota Open was listed on the Florida Racquetball Association calendar as a Grand Prix Series event at Sarasota YMCA, and USA Racquetball’s Florida tournament calendar carried the same July 10-12 dates. That alignment made Sarasota an official checkpoint in the state pipeline, not just a stand-alone draw, and the event page’s brackets and results setup reflected that larger points chase.

The size of the field added to the significance. A 49-player turnout is a solid number for a July stop, especially in a series that is still building its statewide footprint. The Grand Prix player page showed 73 competitors registered for the 2026 season overall, which underlined how Sarasota fit into a broader pool of players chasing standings, not just one weekend trophy.

Daniel De La Rosa gave the Sarasota weekend extra star power. The Grand Prix promoted the world champion for competition, clinics, private lessons and autographs, a package that turned the stop into both a playing opportunity and a marquee attraction. For the players in Sarasota, his presence made the bracket deeper and the benchmark higher, especially with points at stake in a race that still has two more tour stops to shape the order.