Gender doubles kicked off on Saturday morning in Las Vegas as pros not only had to deal with stiff competition but tough weather conditions as temperatures reached into the 90s by start time. There were a lot of new partnerships to get excited about including but not limited to McGuffin/Patriquin, Jansen/Bright, and Ignatowich/Wright. Let’s see how these teams and the rest of the field fared on a dry desert day at the Darling Tennis Center.
Men’s Doubles Championship: (1) Johns/Johns vs (2) Frazier/Johnson
Another men’s doubles gold will be decided by a final match between these two teams who have established themselves as the top two men’s teams in 2023. Ben & Collin faced off against (8) McGuffin/Patriquin in the QF and took them down 11-6, 11-6. The lack of size and firepower took its toll on the 8 seeds as they never were able to string together enough runs to push the Johns brothers. Unfortunately James Ignatowich suffered an ankle injury in his QF match and had to retire the SF match so the Johns got a withdrawal win to stamp their ticket to Sunday.
On the other side Frazier/Johnson were pushed but they have been battled tested all year long and they persevered once again. After a seesaw game 1 in the QF vs Arnold/Wilson they closed them out 11-6 in game 2. In the SF they dropped a game to Staksrud/Tellez but bounced back to win a convincing game 3 11-3.
Women’s Doubles Championship: (1) Waters/Parenteau vs (3) Smith Kovalova
Waters/Parenteau had zero issues today as they faced (8) Irvine/Newell in the QF and dropped only 4 points winning 11-3, 11-1. In the SF it was more of the same as they defeated (4) Wright/Jones 11-4, 11-2.
On the bottom half Smith/Kovalova were pushed by (6) Stratman/Dizon but closed them out 11-6, 11-2 in the final two games after dropping game 1. In the SF they faced (7) Tereschenko/Jade Kawamoto after they upset (2) Bright/Jansen. The firepower and counter attacks by Lucy Kovalova overwhelmed Tereschenko at key points in the match as they won 11-8, 11-4.
On the Horizon
Due to an injury to James Ignatowich the schedule for Championship Sunday will only have four matches instead of five. Ignatowich was scheduled to compete in the mixed doubles final with Anna Bright so Anna Leigh Waters and Ben Johns will win gold by default. Catch the other four finals on Amazon Prime as Cinderella story Aanik Lohani will look to dethrone Ben Johns in men's singles.
