Catherine Parenteau's doubles results have been stellar this year but she had only made two singles finals heading into Sacramento this week. Today was a chance for her to get back on track and show she is still the female to beat outside of Anna Leigh Waters. Let’s check in on how she fared and some of the other storylines from Thursday.
Women’s Singles Championship: (1) Anna Leigh Waters vs (2) Catherine Parenteau
Anna Leigh Waters had zero trouble today in the top half of the draw. She defeated Parris Todd 11-5, 11-4 in the quarterfinals and Brooke Buckner 11-0, 11-5 in the semifinals. Waters looked focused after suffering a loss to Salome Devidze in last week's semifinals in Dallas.
On the other side of the draw, Catherine Parenteau was up against the dangerous Judit Castillo in the quarterfinals. She won that match 11-3, 11-7 and carried that momentum into game 1 of her semifinal vs Dominique Schaefer. Schaefer did grab a 7-0 lead in game 2 but Parenteau battled back to take the match 11-9 in straight games.
Men’s Singles Championship: (1) Federico Staksrud vs (9) JW Johnson
Ben Johns is taking singles off this week which has to be a welcome sight for Federico Staksrud. Staksrud has only lost two main draw singles match this year to opponents not named Ben Johns. It was more of the same today as he moved past Hayden Patriquin, Gabe Joseph and Quang Duong en route to the finals.
On the bottom half of the draw, JW Johnson took down Connor Garnett in a mini upset in the quarterfinals. In the semifinals he beat his good buddy and men’s doubles partner Dylan Frazier in three tight games. Frazier did his best to mount a comeback late in game 3 but Johnson was able to hold him off.
On the Horizon
Mixed doubles kicks off tomorrow with coverage beginning on PickleballTV at 2pm EST. Some partnerships to keep an eye on will be James Ignatowich/Anna Bright, Rachel Rohrabacher/Federico Staksrud and Jack Sock/Catherine Parenteau.
