The PPA Tour is back in action. After several MLP events in a row the pros went back to the standard scoring format starting with singles today. The schedule was jam packed with amazing matches so let’s breakdown who will be playing for gold on Championship Sunday.
Men’s Singles Championship: (2) Connor Garnett vs (3) Tyson McGuffin
Connor Garnett’s confidence has come back. After a strong run with his new MLP team the Utah Black Diamonds, Garnett backed that up today with a big run in men’s singles. He took down Aanik Lohani 11-6, 11-2 (Lohani defeated Sock 9 & 9 in the round of 16) in the quarterfinals and Christopher Haworth 11-8, 9-11, 11-7 in a thriller in the semifinals. Garnett’s two-handed backhand was a weapon for him all day long and he’ll look to use that early and often in Sunday’s final vs Tyson McGuffin to clinch a gold medal.
Tyson McGuffin was slated in the top half of the draw and the wily veteran showed why he is still one of the best singles players in the world with strong wins over Hunter Johnson, Gabe Tardio and Federico Staksrud to punch his ticket to the final. The semifinal showdown with Staksrud was filled with drama, from paddle tosses to questionable service releases but McGuffin was the one who was able to persevere in the end.
Women’s Singles Championship: TBD
Due to an early rain delay that pushed backed matches a couple of hours the women’s singles bracket was unable to be completed. It will conclude at 9am CT time tomorrow and it will feature Kaitlyn Christian vs Brooke Buckne and Kate Fahey vs Mari Humberg.
This may surprise some people as Catherine Parenteau was the #1 seed and Lea Jansen was the #2 seed. Kaitlyn Christian was able to defeat Catherine Parenteau in the quarterfinals 11-2, 5-11, 11-5. On the bottom half of the draw Kate Fahey came through qualifying and took down #2 seed Lea Jansen in her first round. She wasn't done there as she went on to defeat Allyce Jones and Samantha Parker. Fahey has had quite the MLP season with the St Louis Shock so she is a name to look out for moving forward. Mari Humberg also had a nice day with wins over Lauren Stratman and Milan Rane.
The women’s gold medal is up for grabs with no Anna Leigh Waters in the field and both of the top seeds falling so make sure to tune in bright and early tomorrow to see who will emerge to secure their spot on Sunday.
On the Horizon
Mixed doubles action kicks off at 10AM CT. Don’t miss any of the action as streaming will be available on both PickleballTV and the PPA’s YouTube channel.
