Meghan Dizon and Eric Oncins competing at the Pickleball Central Indoor National Championships in Lakeville, MN.
Meghan Dizon and Eric Oncins will be looking to advance to the mixed doubles semifinals on Friday. PPA Tour

3 things to watch for on Friday at PPA Minnesota

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

  • For the second tournament in a row, Brooke Buckner and Kiora Kunimoto will face off in women’s singles. Buckner triumphed last week in Palm Springs by an 11-9, 5-11, 11-9 score line but had to overcome a 5-8 deficit in the third game to do so. Kunimoto—who dismantled Chao Yi Wang 11-1, 11-1 on Thursday—will look to build on that performance and attempt score her first win against Buckner. This will be the fourth match on Humana Championship Court.

 

  • The men’s singles draw experienced a major shakeup on Thursday, with two of the top four seeds falling in the Round of 16. The benefactors were No. 14 seed Cason Campbell and No. 44 seed Camden Chaffin. Campbell beat No. 3 seed Christian Alshon to set a quarterfinal battle with No. 9 seed Dylan Frazier, while the 14-year-old Chaffin stunned No. 2 seed Federico Staksrud to set a meeting with No. 5 seed Chris Haworth. These matches will be the second and fourth contests on Carvana Grandstand Court.

 

  • And finally, the mixed doubles draw will pit Texas Ranchers teammates against each other when No. 2 seeds Christian Alshon/Tyra Black take on No. 9 seeds Eric Oncins/Meghan Dizon. Alshon and Oncins have given fans some highly entertaining doubles battles in the past, and Friday’s clash should be no different with both Black and Dizon playing at a high level on the right side. This will be the fifth match of the day on Humana Championship Court.

 

Live broadcast coverage from Life Time Lakeville starts at 10am CT on Pickleballtv, where I’ll be on the call.