Gender doubles delivered in a big way in Cincinnati today. It is very exciting watching the pro game grow and evolve as new players get more high-level reps and become more competitive with the game’s best. Today was full of highlight matches on both center court and grandstand. Without further ado let’s break it all down.
Men’s Doubles Championship: (1) Ben Johns/Collin Johns vs (2) Dylan Frazier/JW Johnson
The top two seeds ended up making it into the final where they will meet for the 3rd time on Championship Sunday. They have split the series 1-1 but Collin Johns was dealing with an ankle injury in their last matchup at the Takeya Showcase. The road was far from easy for the top seed though as they had to battle through some very tight contests.
Ben & Collin were on the ropes not once but twice in their QF and SF matches. They faced the team of (8) Staksrud/Tellez who pushed them to the absolute brink but it was the Johns brothers that came up big in the 3rd game and walked away with the 13-15, 11-4, 12-10 victory. In the SF they took on the new team of (4) Newman/Wilson who gave them all they could handle as well. After dropping game 1 11-7 they found themselves tied in game 2 10-10 before reeling off 13 straight points on serve winning game 3 11-0.
On the other side it was a bit more straightforward for Johnson/Frazier as they handily beat (7) Devilliers/Bar and (6) McGuffin/Ignatowich in two games. The hand speed of Johnson and Frazier was on full display and their ability to consistently get to the kitchen line and win hands battles continues to give opponents fits. We’ll see if they can find a way to beat the Johns on Sunday.
Women’s Doubles Championship: (1) Waters/Parenteau vs (6) Kawamoto/Kawamoto
Waters/Parenteau had very few dips in play today as they beat (9) Black/Stratman and (5) Koop/Irvine in straight games. Anna Leigh remains unbeaten in women’s doubles so the Kawamoto’s will face an uphill battle in Sunday’s final.
Jackie and Jade continue to show that they are among the elite in women’s doubles as they put on fantastic performances all day today. They upset (3) Jansen/Schneemann and (2) Bright/Dizon without dropping a game. The Kawamoto’s are at their best when they are turning defense into offense and frustrating their opponents by putting balls in play and they did exactly that en route to Sunday’s final.
Jackie Kawamoto has made five finals appearances in women’s doubles in her last nine tournaments played which is say something for someone that doesn’t play a full schedule of tournaments.
On the Horizon
Tune in at 10AM EST as Championship Sunday kicks off with women’s doubles and is followed by men’s doubles, mixed doubles, women’s singles and last but not least men’s singles. It’s the first and last PPA tournament of September so don’t miss out on what should be another exciting day of pickleball.
