Mixed doubles day got underway today in Kansas City. The temperatures are much cooler this week so it favored a much faster style of play but the top two seeds were able to survive and advance to Sunday’s final, despite some early upsets around the grounds. Let’s take a look at how they got there.
Mixed Doubles Championship: (1) Anna Leigh Waters/Ben Johns vs (2) JW Johnson/Jorja Johnson
Upsets were aplenty early but the top seeds Waters/Johns and Johnson/Johnson were both able to navigate their way through tough draws. Waters & Johns faced the MLP mixed doubles team of the Texas Ranchers in Christian Alshon and Etta Wright in the quarterfinals which may have been the match of the day. Alshon was flying around the court and Wright had a good blend of offense/defense but Johns & Waters were able to wear them down as they do with most opponents. They then proceeded to defeat Hunter Johnson and Parris Todd 11-4, 11-8 in the semifinals. Johnson & Todd had a nice day taking down Patriquin/Irvine, Devilliers/Smith and Navratil/Jones.
The Johnson siblings have really found their footing in the summer part of the season They have been dominant for the Dallas Flash in Major League Pickleball and are producing consistent results on the PPA Tour. After a slow start against Travis Rettenmaier/Jade Kawamoto in the round of 16 they bounced back to win that match in three games. That seemed to be the wakeup call they needed as they took out Daescu/Dizon and Staksrud/Parenteau in two games to advance to Sunday’s final.
The Johnson siblings will look to take down Johns and Waters after coming so close in San Clemente just a few months ago, where they had several match points on their paddle to end an undefeated streak that dates back to 2023. If JW can be aggressive in the middle and Jorja can get to the kitchen and win enough hands battles, they have a legitimate shot to get the job done this go around.
On the Horizon
Gender doubles starts at 10AM CT tomorrow morning. Both draws are stacked with great teams so it should be another great day of pickleball. Make sure to tune into PickleballTV and the PPA YouTube’s channel to stream all the action.
