The PPA Tour is on a four tournament in a row stretch. This week is at the Picklr in Salt Lake City, Utah. Weather won’t be a factor this week because the event is indoors but altitude will be a tough adjustment for the players. Let’s see how the day unfolded in the singles draws.
Men’s Singles Championship: Staksrud into another final
It’s been quite the year for Federico Staksrud in singles. He’s played every single tournament on the calendar so far and has now made it into 14 of 16 finals. His level of consistency has been impressive to say the least and today was business as usual as he blew through the top section of the draw. He didn’t surrender a game as he took down Noe Khlif, Marshall Brown and the Johnson siblings.
On the other side it was the #2 seed Connor Garnett who advanced. Garnett had a much tougher day, going to three games with Patrick Kawka and Rafa Hewett but showed his composure in the big moments. Garnett relied heavily on his patented two handed backhand and speed from the back of the court to keep his opponents guessing. He’ll need another performance like we saw in the Kansas City final in order take down Staksrud.
Women’s Singles Championship: Fahey once again plays spoiler
Kate Fahey is quickly becoming a name no other female player wants to see on their half of the draw. She went from qualifying to a silver medal in Kansas City just two weeks ago. Now she is into another final, taking down strong opponents like Salome Devidze and Judit Castillo to get there. She’ll be looking for her first PPA gold medal on Sunday.
On the bottom half of the draw Kaitlyn Christian has been one of the most consistent women’s singles players in the last 2 months. She’s into her second final in a row, having fell to Brooke Buckner last week in three games. She’ll also be looking for her first PPA gold medal on Sunday. We’ll see who can handle the nerves the best on Sunday between her and Fahey.
On the Horizon
Mixed doubles action kicks off at 11AM MT on PickleballTV and the PPA Tour’s YouTube channel. Tune in to see if James Ignatowich and Anna Bright can make the finals as the #1 seed or if Jack Sock and Jackie Kawamoto can make a run as the #14 seeds.
