Five championship matches took place at the Baird Convention Center to close out the PPA Milwaukee Open on Sunday. Let's take a look at who was able to capture gold medals and walk away with a title.
Men's Doubles Championship: Staksrud/Tardio dominant start to finish
Federico Staksrud and Gabe Tardio were simply too much for James Ignatowich and CJ Klinger as they defeated them in straight games to clinch their second title of the season together. Staksrud was able to isolate Ignatowich in crosscourt backhand dinking exchanges and open up the court with his flick to attack. Meanwhile, Ignatowich had trouble getting ahead and successfully attacking Tardio in front of him. Men's doubles is often won at the kitchen line and the #1 seeds executed up there at a high clip.
Women's Doubles Championship: Bright/Rohrabacher pushed to five
Given the history of close encounters in this matchup it is no surprise that this match went the distance on Sunday. The Kawamoto's did what they do best which is break teams down at the line with precision dinking and play elite defense. Meanwhile Bright and Rohrabacher looked to be offensive as much as they could early in rallies to avoid countless long rallies. It was a classic chess match that came down to the wire but the #1 seeds leaned on their championship pedigree to close it out, despite falling behind early in game 5.
Mixed Doubles Championship: Frazier/Bright get it done in four
The chemistry of Dylan Frazier and Anna Bright seemed to carry them through tough match after tough match. It was evident how much a title together meant to both of them and that will to win showed itself down the stretch as they closed out Gabe Tardio and Jessie Irvine to claim the mixed doubles title. Frazier did a tremendous job keeping his energy high and keeping his error count low, allowing them to get in favorable kitchen patterns down the stretch.
Men's Singles Championship: Johnson defeats Staksrud
It seems like Hunter Johnson and Federico Staksrud are meeting in just about every PPA tournament the past two months but on Sunday it was Johnson who got the best of the #1 seed in three games, despite dropping game two 11-0. Both Johnson and Staksrud do a great job of making big runs on serve, something that is needed in today's men's singles game to be successful. Johnson's big run to start game three ended up being the difference as Staksrud couldn't climb back.
Women's Singles Championship: Fahey does it again
Kate Fahey always seems to find herself in tight singles matches on the biggest of stages. Her competitive spirit and will to win is why she continues to come out on top and Sunday was no different as she defeated Chao Yi Wang 11-9 in third game. Fahey will look to continue her strong run at the PPA FInals in San Clemente next month.
