Huge rainstorms once again hit the Dallas area today, which forced most of the morning and early afternoon action indoors. For those who stuck around they were treated to some exciting pickleball under the lights to close out the gender doubles draw including an unlikely upset. Let’s breakdown what went down starting with men’s doubles.
Men’s Doubles Championship: (3) Wright/Bar vs (2) Frazier/Johnson
Matt Wright and Dekel Bar were down a match point to John Cincola and Stefan Auvergne in round 1 but were able to find a way through and they never looked back as they pulled off an unlikely upset in the semifinals, defeating the Johns brothers 11-7, 11-9 to advance to Sunday’s men’s doubles final.
On the other side of the draw it was business as usually for JW Johnson and Dylan Frazier who will be looking for their third title in a row tomorrow after capturing titles in Red Rock and Atlanta. Johnson and Frazier only dropped 14 total points in their final two matches against Hayden Patriquin/Callan Dawson and Tyson Mcguffin/Jaume Martinez Vich.
Women’s Doubles Championship: (1) Waters/Parenteau vs (3) Kovalova/Smith
Anna Leigh Waters and Catherine Parenteau continued their dominance as a partnership defeating both Jade Kawamoto/Andrea Koop and Anna Bright/Kate Fahey in two games. They will be heavy favorites in tomorrow’s best 3 out of 5 bout.
Callie Smith and Lucy Kovalova have been staples on the PPA Tour for quite some time and that’s because they know how to win tight matches late in draws. They defeated two very strong teams in Hurricane Tyra Black/Jorja Johnson and Meghan Dizon/Etta Wright to advance to the gold medal round. Kovalova’s savvy offense from the right carried them today and she’ll need to bring more of that tomorrow if they want a chance to raise the trophy.
On the Horizon
Championship Sunday kicks off tomorrow morning on Pickleball TV but will also be featured on Fox between 230-430 EST. Don’t miss out as all five championship matches feature the best players in all of pro pickleball.
