
3 things to watch for on Friday at PPA Lakeland
The Veolia Lakeland Open presented by Six Zero continues Friday with the men’s and women’s doubles competition, which will be played through the quarterfinal rounds.
Click here to see the draws, and find this week’s broadcast schedule below:
Now, let’s get into what to watch for.
- Friday will mark the first time that Federico Staksrud and Tyson McGuffin have played together at a PPA Tour event. Staksrud is fresh off a World Championship title where he played the right side with Hayden Patriquin, but I wouldn’t be surprised to see him move back to the left this week with McGuffin. The former Major League Pickleball teammates (Miami Pickleball Club in 2023 and Orlando Squeeze in 2024) should be a highly entertaining watch and a tough out as the No. 4 seeds.
- Also keep an eye on the pairing of Tom Protzek/John Lucian Goins. Though both players have had more success in singles at this point in their careers, their doubles game is improving quickly. They nearly knocked off Tyson McGuffin/Hunter Johnson at Worlds and took Riley Newman/Jay Devilliers to three games before that in Cincinnati. Their play has even caught the attention of Texas Ranchers GM Ryan Dawidjan, who recently published a video analyzing their performance for his ‘Breakfast Ball’ series on social media. The No. 26 seeds will face No. 36 seeds Aanik Lohani/Alex Neumann in the Round of 64; this is a big opportunity for both teams because Jaume Martinez Vich/Jay Devilliers, who would await the winners in the Round of 32, withdrew ahead of Friday’s competition.
- In women’s doubles, Jackie Kawamoto/Jade Kawamoto are teaming up for the first time since winning their first title together in Cincinnati back in September. That was quite the run for the sisters, as they beat the pairings of Anna Leigh Waters/Anna Bright and Jorja Johnson/Tyra Black in back-to-back matches to capture the gold. As the No. 5 seeds this week, they could face Jorja Johnson/Rachel Rohrabacher Friday afternoon in what would be a must-watch quarterfinal matchup.
Live broadcast coverage from Beerman Family Tennis Center begins at 11am ET on Pickleballtv.
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