Unfortunately, there was no mixed doubles final today due to the injury of top male player James Ignatowich but the other four finals delivered in a major way to close out an exciting four days in Las Vegas. All four finals featured the two best players in the world Ben Johns and Anna Leigh Waters but could they overcome some tough competition to secure triple crowns? Let’s dive into detail and recap what went down at the Darling Tennis Center.
Men’s Singles Championship: (1) Ben Johns vs (23) Aanik Lohani
The day started with a David vs Goliath matchup. Ben Johns was looking for his 9th singles gold of the 2023 season while Aanik Lohani was making his debut performance on a Sunday at a PPA Tour event. The first game was all Johns as he rolled relatively easily to an 11-3 win. In game 2 Lohani got more comfortable and made the top seed work but in the end Ben clinched his 9th singles championship of the season. A great run by the 23 seed and we hope to see more of him in the future.
Women’s Doubles Championship: (1) Waters/Parenteau vs (3) Kovalova/Smith
This was an extremely competitive women’s doubles final something that hasn’t always been the case on championship Sunday but Kovalova/Smith are veterans and weren’t intimidated by Waters/Parenteau. They jumped out to an 11-7 4-0 lead and the upset looked like a real possibility but best 3 out of 5 is a marathon not a sprint and Waters/Parenteau dug deep to pull out game 2 11-6 and didn’t look back. They won the next two games 11-8, 11-5 to clinch yet another PPA title. Waters remains unbeaten on the year in women’s doubles.
Men’s Doubles Championship: (1) Johns/Johns vs (2) Frazier/Johnson
The match of the day was the men’s doubles championship between the top 2 seeds. Johnson & Frazier came out firing and had the Johns on their heels as they were initiating offense from all over the kitchen line. After two games the scoreboard read 11-7, 11-3 in favor of the 2 seeds. The Johns brothers eventually found their top gear midway through the 3rd game as they hit a stretch where they won 13 consecutive points before Frazier & Johnson scored. After winning games 3 and 4 the momentum completely flipped and Collin & Ben rode it to a game 5 victory 11-6 to win their 11th doubles title of the season.
Women’s Singles Championship: (1) Anna Leigh Waters vs (2) Catherine Parenteau
Waters & Parenteau are the two best women’s singles players in pickleball and faced off for the 6th time on championship Sunday. Parenteau’s strategy to drop her passes and play more cat and mouse paid dividends as she pushed Anna Leigh to 3 games for the first time since late march but Waters hit another gear in game 3 limiting her error count and coming forward as much as she could as she clinched her 13th singles title of the season.
On the Horizon
The next stop is Nationals the second week of November in Dallas, TX. The pros will have a few weeks off between now and then but most will be competing in Major League Pickleball the week prior. The PPA season only has a few stops left before we turn the calendar to 2024 so as always make sure to follow the PPA on social media for any important updates on scheduling and streaming.
