Welcome to the Professional Pickleball Association’s busiest section of the season. We’re in the second week of a “Five Events in Six weekends” stretch for the tour, visiting Bristol, Tennessee for the first time in pro pickleball history. It was the IMG Hotels & Resorts 2024 Bristol Open, held at the Bristol Sportsplex, about a mile north of the Bristol Motor Speedway (home of multiple Nascar events every year) and about a mile south of the Tennessee-Virginia state line, which (as you’ll likely read about in any discussion involving Bristol) runs directly through the town’s Main Street. I hope to see plenty of PPA pro pictures at the state line post-tournament.
Click here for the PickleballBrackets.com home page for the event, where you can get tournament details, draw sheets, and results.
Let’s Recap the action.
————————
Men’s Pro Singles Recap
There were more than a few big-time upsets in the opening rounds of this singles event, as has become custom. #24 Cason Campbell continues to earn prize money towards a new hat, topping #15 Rafa Hewett to earn a spot in the round of 16 against #1 Federico Staksrud. #34 Ryan Fu got a well-timed walkover against #4 Christian Alshon to earn his round of 16 spot. #46 Jack Foster, winner at the 2024 US Open over Haworth, got two very solid wins over Eric Roddy and then the red-hot #14 Hayden Patriquin. #28 Hunter Johnson has been plagued by terrible draws in the early rounds this season, but downed #6 Dylan Frazier this weekend to get into the 16s for just the 2nd time this year. Hunter’s round of 32 opponents this year in singles have been a murderer’s row of the sport: Staksrud twice, Garnett, Duong twice, McGuffin, JW Johnson, and Johns in his previous eight main singles draws, but he was able to handle the Hyundai Master’s gold medalist here.
MORE FOR YOU
However, the big early round winner was #42 Grayson Goldin. He won three matches to qualify for the main draw, then took out #22 Whittaker, destroyed #11 Arnold 2,3, and edged #7 Jack Sock 9,10 before giving #2 Ben Johns a heck of a game in the quarters, falling 9,8. Goldin made a similar quarterfinals run in June at the Orange County Cup, but the players he topped here were superior across the board.
Once the semis rolled around, sanity resumed from a seeding perspective. The top four players in the draw (Staksrud, Duong, Johns, and McGuffin) all advanced to the semis. Staksrud made a heck of a statement in one semi, beating Duong in two games and giving the LA teenager a rare “double pickle.” 11-0, 11-0. From the bottom half, two pro veterans Johns & McGuffin renewed their long rivalry: these two competed for the US Open title in 2019 before the pro tours even existed. On this day, Johns got the upper hand against Tyson, winning in three to set up a grudge match of sorts against the clear-cut #1 ranked player on tour.
In the final, Johns cruised past Staksrud 4,9 to claim gold. It’s the fourth time these two have met for gold this year, and Johns has won all four meetings. Staksrud remains #1 in the standings by a fair margin, but Johns can continue to claim supremacy by virtue of dominance in the category of head to head meetings.
Gold: Ben Johns. Silver: Federico Staksrud. Bronze: Tyson McGuffin.
————————
Women’s Pro Singles Recap
Casual observers of the women’s pro singles draw might have done a double take at the top of the bracket when they saw the top seed being Alia Brown, the Atlanta-based teen-ager better known for her exploits on the APP NextGen Series and with very little prior PPA experience. The normal #1 seed in singles, Anna Leigh Waters, withdrew last minute from the event and Brown got the #1 seed as a “lucky loser” (meaning, she was a loser in the final round of qualifying but gets into the main draw to avoid a walk-over when a seeded player has to withdraw last minute). Brown took advantage of her fortune and won her round of 32 match, but fell in the 16s to #15 Nicole Eugenio.
Brown wasn’t the only player from the upper half to take advantage; #14 Chao Yi “Zoey” Wang got a career win over #3 Lea Jansen, then got an equally impressive win over #8 Judit Castillo (gold medalist in Austin in March) to advance to the semis. In the end though, it was #6 Kaitlyn Christen to advance to the final, perhaps most fittingly since she had to top former top 4 ranked singles player Anna Bright in a 12-10 third game nail biter earlier in the day.
The bottom half went a bit more as expected. Last week’s champ Brooke Buckner had to play the now-favorite #2 Catherine Parenteau in the quarters thanks to seed rotation, and made a statement with a 7,8 win. Parenteau is the clear-cut #2 seed by points, but Buckner’s deep runs in events has her rising the chart fast. She topped the dangerous #4 Salome Devidze 1,7 in the semis in a battle of baseliners to earn a spot in the Sunday final against Christen.
In the final, Christian trounced the baselining Buckner 11-3 in game one, but Brooke made the adjustment to repeat the trouncing 11-3 the other way in game two. In the tiebreaker, Buckner held on for an 11-7 win and repeated as PPA singles gold medalist.
Gold: Brooke Buckner. Silver: Kaitlyn Christian. Bronze: Chao Yi Wang.
————————
Mixed Pro Doubles Recap
Singles may give us crazy upsets, but Mixed generally shows us the cream of the crop. The depth of the tour is frequently on display, and week after week we generally see the top seeds advancing deep into Friday’s mixed draws. That being said, this weekend managed to surprise us a little bit, with solid-but-lower-ranked teams surprising some of the Sunday stalwarts. Last week’s finalists (JW and Jorja Johnson) were shocked in the 16s by deserving winners #14 Jaume Martinez Vich & Jackie Kawamoto. Qualifiers #43 Wyatt Stone & Bobbi Oshiro took out two seeds before falling in the 16s. #2 Anna Bright teamed with Christian Alshon this weekend instead of her beau Ignatowich (reportedly still nursing some lingering soreness) and cruised into the semis.
Other story lines from Mixed: Parenteau and Sock have parted ways, but both continue to struggle to live up to seeds. Parenteau has picked up Daescu, winner of seven APP Mixed pro golds in 2023 and who was a rising star before his paddle tampering suspension, but they fell in the quarters to the precocious team of Tardio & Hurricane. Sock’s new partner Jansen is a great pairing; they’re teammates on the NY Hustlers in MLP and got a great win over #8 McGuffin & Glozman before falling in the quarters.
The top-half semi came down to chalk: #1 Johns & Waters versus #4 Bar & Pisnik. These pairs hadn’t played since the quarters of the Hyundai Masters in January, but had their battle put on weather-related hold when rain sent the tournament inside and they ran out of time. Bright and early Saturday morning, Johns & Waters made fast work of Bar & Pisnik 6,0 to earn the Sunday final. Their opponent was determined to be the #2 seeds Bright & Alshon, who had an exciting come-from-behind 12-10 game three win over the #14 seeds.
In the final, Johns & Waters won their 6th straight PPA Mixed pro title together, and their 37th together since pairing up in January of 2022, with a complete obliteration of the #2 seeds Anna Bright & Christian Alshon 3,1,4. The duo targeted Bright for both dinks and speed-ups, and the #2 seeds seemed flummoxed by the route one strategy. The win sealed the “double” for both Johns & Waters, both accustomed to competing for triple crowns.
Gold: Waters & Johns. Silver: Bright & Alshon. Bronze: Kawamoto & Vich
————————
Men’s Pro Doubles Recap
The top half of the Men’s Pro Doubles draw was in shambles for the top seeds early when both the #1 and #3 seeds were upset in the round of 16. #1 Frazier & Johnson, who had been the model of consistency this year while making the gold medal match in the last six PPA matches, were shocked by the #16 seeds Michael Loyd & Todd fought. Meanwhile, the #3 seeds Tyson McGuffin & Jaume Martinez Vich were crushed by the upstart and vocal #24 team of Anderson Scarpa & Greg Dow. Neither team did much beyond these results, opening the door for #8 Christian Alshon & Quang Duong to secure a finals spot from the top half.
The bottom half featured an early matchup between two powerhouse teams when #2 Ben & Collin Johns faced #5 Federico Staksrud & Gabe Tardio, their vanquishers last weekend in Kansas City. The Johns brothers turned the tide this week, winning a well-earned 11-7 third game victory and then advancing to the final over #7 Ignatowich & Daescu.
In the final, the Johns brothers had a fantastic opportunity to prove that their recent run of upsets was a thing of the past, but the new pairing of Alshon and Duong had more to say. The pair played what can only be described as “blitz pickleball,” driving shots from all angles and depths of the court, and peppering the Johns brothers all match. Collin couldn’t keep up, Ben seemed visibly frustrated at his error-prone older brother, and the pair lost in three games 7,7,10. It’s Duong’s first ever PPA gold medal in any discipline, and it’s notable that he won it in doubles despite being viewed primarily as a singles threat on tour. Meanwhile, the questions continue to loom for the Johns brother partnerships; this is their sixth straight tournament without a win.
Gold: Alshon & Duong. Silver: Johns & Johns. Bronze: Tellez & Devilliers.
————————
Women’s Pro Doubles Recap
The original GOAT Simone Jardim made a rare appearance on the PPA this weekend, playing for the first time on tour this year. She teamed up with Utah’s Allyce Jones to form the #8 seed and had a nice run to the quarters. They fell at that juncture to #14 Judit Castillo & Ewa Radzikowska, fresh of a dominant win over the #3 seeds Schneemann & Kawamoto. The #14 seed’s run was ended at the hands of the unbeatable #1 pair of Anna Leigh Waters & Catherine Parenteau, who advanced to their 22nd gold medal match together with a dominant 5,2 win.
From the bottom half, it has been a couple of months since the #2 ranked team of Anna Bright & Rachel Rohrabacher have lived up to their seeding. They were pressed to the limit in the quarters, advancing 13-11 in the third against #10 Brooke Buckner & Chao Yi “Zoey” Wang, then being similarly challenged in the semis against #7 Jorja Johnson & Vivian Glozman, but they made it to the finals.
Unfortunately, Bright & Rohrabacher couldn’t really do much against the #1 ranked team of Waters and Parenteau in the final. The final score flattered the #2 seeds, who were down big in each game and rallied to make the score line a respectable 6,6,4. Waters & Parenteau continue their amazing run as a partnership, with just one loss since pairing up in the wake of Leigh Water’s knee injury in Nov 2022.
Gold: Waters & Parenteau. Silver: Bright & Rohrabacher. Bronze: Johnson & Glozman
————————
Senior Open Competition Quick Recap
- Men’s Senior Open Doubles: Altaf Merchant & Steve Deakin gave up just nine total points in their three matches to claim the Men’s Senior Open doubles title, repeating as champions for the second week in a row.
- Women’s Senior Open Doubles: Ashly Farrior & Kim Perritt won the double-round robin Women’s Open Doubles competition.
- Mixed Senior Open Doubles: North Carolinian’s Kristin Wright & Aaron Perlman took the small Mixed open doubles round robin.
————————
The Pro Pickleball Medal Tracker has now been updated with these results; check out this link online for a complete pro medal history for all tours and all pro events dating to the beginnings of all the major pro tours, plus pro events that predated 2020.
Next up on the Pickleball Calendar? According to my Master Pickleball Schedule, the PPA traveling circus has a long Monday night drive after closing down Bristol to get across the country and get ready for the PPA’s Salt Lake City event next weekend. No rest for the weary.
