Gender doubles had a bit of different feel to it heading into the day as there were question marks surrounding the injury of Collin Johns. Despite taking an ugly fall in mixed doubles he was able to go but not at 100%. Let’s dive into what we saw in the men’s draw along with the women’s on an action packed Saturday at Los Cab.
Men’s Doubles Championship: (1) Johns/Johns vs (2) Johnson/Frazier
Collin Johns as alluded to earlier was not at 100% today and was often seen limping in between points but the Johns brothers were still able to persevere and stamp their ticket to championship Sunday. After dropping a game to (9) Devilliers/Tardio 11-6 they bounced back to take the next two games 11-9, 11-4. They followed that up with a flawless performance over (4) Garnett/Wright 11-5, 11-2 ending the semifinal on a 17-2 run.
On the other side of the draw it was a much longer day for the #2 seeds Johnson/Frazier as they are now on a 14 match win streak dating back to the Beer City Open. Out on grandstand they were pushed by (7) Bar/Young in the QF winning 11-9 in the 3rd. In the semifinals they were tested by the run and gun team of (11) Arnold/Wilson winning 11-7, 3–11, 11-7 in a highly entertaining match on center court.
The Johns brothers are 5-0 vs Frazier and Johnson this year but Sunday will be anyone’s contest with Collin Johns still nursing a lower leg injury.
Women’s Doubles Championship (1) Waters/Bright vs (2) Kovalova/Smith
It was smooth sailing once again for the #1 seeds Bright/Waters as they dropped only 12 points through 3 matches en route to Sunday’s final. Their biggest test came against (5) Black/Jones in the semifinal which they won 11-4, 11-4.
On the other side (2) Kovalova/Smith were in top form all day long as they beat the Brascia sisters 11-5, 11-4 at their home club in the quarterfinals before beating (6) Schneemann/Wright 11-5,11-7 in the semifinals.
These two faced off in the finals at the first PPA tournament of the year at the Hyundai Masters with Waters and Bright winning in 2 games.
On the Horizon
Catch all of Sunday’s action on CBS, CBS Sports and PPA’s YouTube channel tomorrow at 10am PST as championship Sunday will also feature three new singles finalists Hurricane Tyra Black, Yana Newell and Gabriel Joseph.
