The 11th PPA Tour event of the season came to a conclusion today. Luckily the weather was much more cooperative as all five championship matches were able to finish outdoors. Let’s go through each of them and see who was able to secure a gold medal.
Men’s Singles Championship: Haworth falls a couple points short
Christopher Haworth came out hot and found himself up 11-2, 3-0 against the world #1 Ben Johns. He could do no wrong as he was painting lines off both wings from the baseline and forcing Johns into some uncharacteristic errors. However, Johns was able to recover as he cleaned up his 4th shot volleys and forced Haworth to beat him with multiple passing shots not just one. In the end it was Ben who closed the match out 11-9 in game 3.
Men’s Doubles Championship: Frazier & Johnson three-peat
Similar to last week in Atlanta, Dylan Frazier and JW Johnson fell down a game in the men’s doubles final but they settled in quickly after to win the next three games comfortably. The dink quality and the high level hands over a best 3 out of 5 was just too much for the underdogs Matt Wright and Dekel Bar as they ran out of ways to try to keep the #2 seeds guessing.
Mixed Doubles Championship: Waters & Johns in straights
The Johnson siblings decided to mix it up and put JW on the right side to begin the match but Jorja was unable to get them to kitchen line consistently as Ben and Anna Leigh put a ton of pressure on her 3rds and 5ths. Despite some early leads in games 2 and 3 the Johnson’s couldn’t sustain any momentum as they lost in straights.
Women’s Doubles Championship: Waters & Parenteau drop only 10 points
Anna Leigh Waters and Catherine Parenteau were once again dominant as they won convincingly 11-3, 11-3, 11-4 to secure yet another title. Kovalova and Smith tried to play first strike pickleball but the counters of Waters and the defense of Parenteau put them on defense more than offense. These two will look to keep the train rolling and win their 7th title of the year next week in Sacramento.
Women’s Singles Championship: Jansen battles back to win in 3
Lea Jansen looked out of sorts early, struggling with the heat and her forehand but coach Mike Wolf seemed to keep her confidence high as she found an extra gear late in game 2. After evening the match, she ran away with game 3 11-1 as Devidze was unable to pass her from the back the court.
On the Horizon
The next stop on the PPA Tour is Sacramento, California beginning next Thursday. Make sure to follow the PPA Tour on social media for updates on the draws and schedule.
