Men’s and women’s doubles action went late into the evening as tons of matches went to third and deciding games. The atmosphere inside the Salt Lake City Convention Center was electric as fans were on the edge of their seats watching the pros battle it out for a shot at a title. Let’s check in to see who was able to advance to Championship Sunday.
Men’s Doubles Championship: Ignatowich & Wright make first final together
James Ignatowich has been switching around men’s doubles partners lately but really found some chemistry with Matt Wright. As Wright said in their final post-match interview, they had unfinished business from earlier in the year, as they were so close to a few finals’ appearances to start the season. They dropped a few games to Connor Garnett/Tyler Loong and Jack Sock/Collin Shick but looked dominant against Federico Staksrud/Augustus Ge. Ignatowich was on his game, ripping the serve for free points and playing very patiently up at the kitchen line,
On the other side of the draw, the match of the day was between Hayden Patriquin/Pablo Tellez and Gabe Tardio/Andrei Daescu. Tardio and Daescu saved multiple match points to clinch their spot-on Championship Sunday. Daescu’s ultra-consistent play throughout the day combined with Tardio’s aggressiveness from the right was enough to push them through a tough section of the draw which also included Tyson McGuffin and Jaume Martinez Vich.
Women’s Doubles Championship: Rohrabacher & Bright battle tested but advance
Rachel Rohrabacher and Anna Bright were pushed by Jackie Kawamoto and Lucy Kovalova in the semifinals, as it took three games to get the job done. Kawamoto and Kovalova had some success pushing Bright and Rohrabacher off the line a bit in game 2 but the #1 seeds played some of their best pickleball down the stretch to finish the job and book their ticket to the championship match.
On the other side it was Jorja Johnson and Mari Humberg who survived a very tough quarterfinals over hometown favorites Callie Smith and Allyce Jones in three games. In the semifinals they faced some more ladies from Utah, Etta Wright and Meghan Dizon but they took care of the #3 seeds in two relatively easy games. Humberg and Johnson had a lot of success counterattacking the offense of Wright and Dizon throughout the match. They’ll need to do more of the same in the finals as Bright and Rohrabacher do an excellent job of putting their opponents under pressure.
On the Horizon
Championship Sunday kicks off at 11AM MT. Don’t miss out as Rachel Rohrabacher goes for her 5th gold medal while James Ignatowich will play for two titles. All five championship matches will be streamed on PickleballTV.
