Gender doubles action got underway today in St George Utah and there are plenty of storylines to talk about so let’s see how both the men’s and women’s draws unfolded.
Men’s Doubles Championship: (9) Andrei Daescu/Gabe Tardio vs (2) JW Johnson/Dylan Frazier
Andrei Daescu and Gabe Tardio had one of the tougher roads to a final you will see in a PPA draw but they battled their way through to setup a rematch of a final from earlier in the year in Mesa. They defeated Garnett/Alshon 12-10, 11-6 in the round of 16 and Staksrud/Tellez 11-5 11-3 in the quarterfinals before their matchup with the Johns brothers in the semifinals. After an 11-1 game 1 loss they regrouped and were able to successfully attack Ben Johns to win games 2 and 3 13-11, 11-0. That makes them 2-0 on the year vs the #1 team in the world and they’ll look to cap off their amazing run with a gold medal tomorrow.
On the other side JW Johnson and Dylan Frazier took care of business early in the day before facing a much tougher opponent in the semifinals, Dekel Bar and Tyson McGuffin. McGuffin and Bar successfully executed the drive and crash in game 1 to win it 11-3 but Johnson and Frazier got into their patterns and hit better 3rds in games 2 and 3 to squeak out the victory. They’ll look to defeat Daescu and Tardio for a second time this year in a PPA final.
Women’s Doubles Championship: (1) Anna Bright/Callie Smith vs (4) Lea Jansen/Tina Pisnik
Anna Bright and Callie Smith had hard fought wins over both the Brascia sisters and Allyce Jones/Tyra Black today. In their semifinal match vs Jones/Black they lost 18 of 20 points on serve in games 2 and 3 but somehow walked away with an 11-9 victory in the 3rd game. Bright’s offense from the left was ultimately the difference.
Meanwhile Lea Jansen and Tina Pisnik barely broke a sweat today as they dropped just 17 total points in their four matches. Pisnik’s ability to defend and reset just about any ball to keep her team alive in points will be put to the test on Sunday by the offensive firepower of both Smith and Bright.
On the Horizon
Championship Sunday kicks off tomorrow morning at 11am MT. Catch all the championship matches on PickleballTV while the PPA’s YouTube channel will stream the bronze medal matches.
