The PPA Tour heads from sunny Newport Beach, California, to cloudy and windy McKinney, Texas, for the Veolia Texas Open. The Round of 32 kicks off with excitement, as Team Selkirk’s young players dominate in singles.
Shimabukuro downs the No. 4 seed
Tama Shimabukuro pulled off a huge upset to start his day, taking down No. 4 seed and Utah Black Diamonds teammate Connor Garnett. Against a player with Garnett’s high-level tennis background, Shimabukuro mixed it up well with cat-and-mouse and well-timed approaches to the kitchen, all while handling the windy conditions. After taking the first game easily, 11-4, the second game came at a tighter scoreline of 12-10. Shimabukuro now moves on to the round of 16 to face tour veteran Rafa Hewett.
Kunimoto wins the battle of young stars
18-year-old Kiora Kunimoto moves up to the No. 11 seed for the Texas tournament following some incredible performances in recent events. Kunimoto had a bye in the round of 64 and faced another rising star, 18-year-old Jalina Ingram today. Ingram gave Kunimoto a tough time in the first game, winning 12-10, but Kunimoto eventually found her rhythm and signature looping backhand to dominate games two and three, 11-4 and 11-5. Kunimoto now sets up a clash with No. 7 Zoey Wang, who she beat in the Minnesota Indoor Championships in late January.
Tune in
The Texas Open is streaming now on the PPA Livestream YouTube channel, and will transfer over to PickleballTV tomorrow!
