Rachel Rohrabacher and Christian Alshon competing in mixed doubles at the Veolia Atlanta Pickleball Championships.
Rachel Rohrabacher and Christian Alshon are the No. 4 seeds in the mixed doubles draw this week. PPA Tour

3 things to watch for on Friday at PPA Atlanta

The Veolia Atlanta Pickleball Championships continue Friday with quarterfinal action in all five pro events.

This week’s event is a Slam worth 2,000 points and is the final opportunity for players to qualify for next week’s PPA Tour Finals.

Here is the order of play:

 

Now, let’s get into what to watch for.

  • In men’s singles, both No. 35 seed Matthew Barlow and No. 41 seed Luc Pham are into the quarterfinals after consecutive three-game victories. Barlow took out John Lucian Goins and Gabe Joseph, while Pham defeated Adam Harvey and Donald Young. Barlow will face top-seeded Chris Haworth on Friday, while Pham will take on No. 5 seed Connor Garnett for the very first time as both players look to continue their stellar play in Atlanta. Those matches will be second on Humana Championship Court and Carvana Grandstand Court, respectively.

 

  • In mixed doubles, No. 4 seeds Rachel Rohrabacher/Christian Alshon will take on No. 5 seeds Parris Todd/Andrei Daescu in a battle of the mixed doubles aces from the Brooklyn Pickleball Team and Columbus Sliders, respectively. This contest also has massive implications for who will qualify for next week’s PPA Tour Finals in mixed doubles; Todd has a slight advantage over Rohrabacher for the final qualifying spot on the women’s side, so Friday’s clash is a must-win for Rohrabacher if she wants to have any chance at qualifying. This will be the sixth match of the day on Carvana Grandstand Court.

 

  • After multiple upsets on Thursday, the bottom half of the men’s doubles draw is wide open. No. 9 seeds Armaan Bhatia/Riley Newman will face No. 19 seeds Tama Shimabukuro/Yuta Funemizu, while No. 12 seeds Jack Sock/Blaine Hovenier will take on No. 13 seeds Connor Garnett/Roscoe Bellamy. Whichever two of these teams make the semifinals will be doing so for the very first time together. These matchups will be the ninth and seventh matches on Grandstand.

 

Live broadcast coverage from Life Time Peachtree Corners begins at 10am ET on Pickleballtv.