
3 things to watch for on Wednesday at PPA Virginia Beach
The Fasenra Virginia Beach Cup presented by JOOLA continues Wednesday with Round of 32 action in all five pro events.
Here is the order of play:
Now, let’s get into what to watch for:
- Genie Bouchard withdrew from women’s singles competition early Wednesday morning due to an illness. As a result, No. 29 seed Mehvish Safdar will advance to the Round of 16 and face either Angie Walker or Jalina Ingram on Thursday. This withdrawal brings Bouchard’s event to a close, as she fell in mixed doubles on Tuesday and is not competing in women’s doubles this week. She is next set to compete at the Rate Vegas Cup, scheduled for Oct. 20-26.
- One of the day’s most highly anticipated bouts features No. 6 seed Jack Sock taking on No. 29 seed Alex Crum in men’s singles. Sock is obviously the higher seed, but Crum has picked up some notable wins—including two over Federico Staksrud—in his short time competing on the PPA Tour. This contest between two of the most entertaining singles players in the sport will be the fourth match on Humana Championship Court.
- Another intriguing matchup comes from the mixed doubles draw, where No. 14 seeds Layne Sleeth/James Ignatowich will take on No. 19 seeds Milan Rane/Connor Garnett for a spot in the Round of 16. This is the first tournament that Sleeth and Ignatowich have played together, but they are a talented team on paper. Rane and Garnett, to their credit, aren’t too far removed a quarterfinal run in Cincinnati that saw them beat the always-dangerous pairing of Catherine Parenteau/Christian Alshon. The winner of this matchup will most likely face top seeds Anna Leigh Waters/Ben Johns on Thursday, barring an upset by Lacy Schneemann/Ryan Fu.
Live broadcast coverage from Pickleball Virginia Beach begins at 10am ET on Pickleballtv.
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