It was a windy second day at the Mesa Cup, with some exciting upsets and standout performances.
Kunimoto strikes again
Despite being fairly new to the pro pickleball scene, 18-year-old Kiora Kunimoto is making her presence known, continuing her streak of defeating some of the sport’s top players. The Selkirk Emerging Pro had already taken down singles medalists Zoey Wang and Brooke Buckner in recent weeks, and today she added Jorja Johnson to the list.
Kunimoto’s match against Johnson looked like it could go either way at times, especially after she fell 2–11 in the first game. After making some adjustments, Kunimoto began hitting cleaner shots with a more concise strategy, ultimately leading to her 2–11, 11–8, 11–4 victory.
Tomorrow, it will be a battle of newcomer vs. veteran when Kunimoto goes head-to-head with Catherine Parenteau in their first-ever showdown.
Burkhardt takes down Joseph
One of the big upsets of the day was Selkirk Emerging Pro Matt Burkhardt defeating No. 9 seed Gabe Joseph in singles. Their first-ever meeting took place on Showcase Court 1, where Burkhardt seemed to adjust to the conditions better than his opponent. In 41 minutes, Burkhardt defeated Joseph 11–9, 3–11, 11–9 to advance to the round of 16.
Burkhardt will play Matthew Barlow, who shook up the draw by defeating Roscoe Bellamy in an earlier round.
Parenteau keeps it rolling
Catherine Parenteau played in the first match of the day on Grandstand against rising 15-year-old talent Emma Nelson. The No. 6 seed needed just 21 minutes to dismantle the youngster, racing to a 10–0 start in Game 1 before finishing the match 11–1, 11–3.
Parenteau and Gabe Tardio earned a hard-fought win in mixed doubles against veteran duo Matt Wright and Lucy Kovalova. In their fourth tournament appearance together, Parenteau and Tardio seem to be finding their groove and working out the kinks in their new partnership. They defeated Wright and Kovalova 11–9, 9–11, 11–6 and will face the No. 12 team of Meghan Dizon and Eric Oncins for a chance to reach the quarterfinals.
Jack is back
After a leg injury at the Masters, Jack Sock has officially returned to the tour. Sock entered all three events in his return and will move on to the round of 16 in singles and mixed doubles.
In singles, Sock faced two rising talents, Miles Hoover and George Rangelov, to reach the round of 16. Rangelov, a recent signee to the PPA and a PPA Challengers winner, gave Sock a challenge, forcing a third game after taking the second game 14–12. Sock responded by winning the decider 11–4. He will face SoCal’s Luc Pham for a spot in the quarterfinals.
Tune in
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