The results of the Grand Slam in the Polish village Stare Jablonki did not answer who the 2011 World Tour champions will be.
But definitely showed us that Dalhausser-Rogers are ready and motivated to defend their title - a fact which seemed vague some months ago. The beach volleyball society was eager to see whether the North American adventure of the best US team, finished with a happy end, would recharge their batteries or burden their feet with exhaustion. The outcome was more than impressive. Despite the slow start and the two consecutive defeats at the start of the Mazury Orlen Grand Slam Dalhausser-Rogers demonstrated on Sunday the skills that helped them win the Olympic gold in 2008 and the 2010 World Tour trophy.
Suffering an early upset on Thursday by Benes-Kubala (Czech Republic) and Boeckermann-Urbatzka (Germany), Dalhausser and Rogers found strength to return victorious on the Hotel Anders centre court. The semifinal match between the Americans and the tour leaders Emanuel-Alison was certainly one of the best games in season 2011. Phil Dalhausser seemed like someone who had never been recovering from an ankle injury and was blocking Alison and especially Emanuel throughout all the three sets of the battle won by 21-15, 18-21, 15-12. Todd Rogers was also brilliant in defence and contributed to what appeared unbelievable last month - someone to threaten the throne of the mighty Brazilians Emanuel and Alison.
The other semifinal was a showdown for the home representatives and one of the best European couples this summer Fijalek-Prudel. The Polish crowd wanted to see their favourites in the big final and helped them considerably by shouting "Polska, Polska" in the duration of the whole game. The crowd support resulted in a straight 2-0 (22-20, 21-12) win for Fijalek-Prudel over the Germans Erdmann-Matysik.
In the most expected game of the day Dalhausser-Rogers had to prove once more that they are the best team in the tournament. It was not an easy affair for the Americans as they took the gold only after a tense tie-break giving them a 2-1 win over Fijalek-Prudel (21-15, 15-21, 15-13).
Emanuel-Alison won the consolatory bronze medals despite facing some difficulties in the opening set against Erdmann-Matysik. The straight-set victory was important not only in terms of collecting another pair of medals from a World Tour event, but also of keeping the overall ranking leadership by the insignificant 40 points ahead of the chasers Dalhausser-Rogers.
The Tour will resume in Klagenfurt (Austria) - one of the most emblematic events in the history of the game, with expectations for some highly suspensive clashes and, unfortunately, the bad news about Mariusz Prudel's injury, which will prevent the best Polish couple from taking place in the last Grand Slam of the summer.
