
5 things to watch for on Friday at the Select Medical Orange County Cup
The Select Medical Orange County Cup presented by Reign Storm continues on Friday with quarterfinal action in all five pro events.
Here is the order of play:
Now, let’s get into what to watch for.
- We haven’t seen Ben and Collin Johns take the court together on the PPA Tour (excluding MLP) since they won the PPA Masters in January. They’ll be on the same court on Thursday, but on different sides of the net. Ben/Gabe Tardio will play Collin/James Ignatowich with a spot in the men’s doubles semifinals on the line. This will be the ninth time that the Johns bros have faced off on the PPA Tour, and the first meeting since they played in mixed doubles at the PPA Masters. Ben leads 8-0, so Collin will be looking to turn the tide on Friday.
- Outside of the top three seeds, the women’s doubles draw has been chaos this week. Yufei Long/Jamie Wei—members of the inaugural class of the UPA Asia Trailblazers Program—continued their run with an 11-8, 13-11 victory over No. 14 seeds Andrea Koop/Alix Truong on Thursday. They will face No. 10 seeds Mari Humberg/Meghan Dizon, a pair of new MLP teammates who saved two match points during their comeback victory over Kate Fahey/Tina Pisnik. On the other side of the draw, No. 12 seeds Mary Brascia/Maggie Brascia earned an impressive 12-10, 11-2 victory over No. 6 seeds Etta Tuionetoa/Jackie Kawamoto in the Round of 16 and will next take on No. 2 seeds Catherine Parenteau/Rachel Rohrabacher.
- Riley Inn/Luke Williams may have been fortunate to get into the main draw after falling in the final round of men’s doubles qualifying on Monday, but it’s been all skill ever since. They took out No. 12 seeds Tyler Loong/Spencer Smith 11-2, 11-9 on Thursday and will now face No. 2 seeds Federico Staksrud/Hayden Patriquin, who were nearly upset in the Round of 16 by Jay Devilliers/Grayson Goldin.
- This is the second straight tournament where a qualifier has made it to the quarterfinals in men’s singles. It was Alex Crum in Atlanta, and it’s Rafael Lenhard in San Clemente. The No. 61 seed scored his second consecutive three-game victory on Thursday over Noe Khlif and will next take on No. 8 seed Christian Alshon. Not to be outdone, No. 46 seed James Ignatowich is still in contention on the other side of the draw after an 11-3, 11-6 triumph over Jaume Martinez Vich. No. 2 seed Hunter Johnson is all that stands between him and a trip to the semifinals.
- The women’s singles quarterfinal between Parris Todd and Brooke Buckner should be must-watch pickleball. Buckner’s raw power from the baseline will go toe-to-toe with Todd’s craftiness and counterpunching abilities. Todd’s 11-2, 12-14, 11-9 victory in the only previous meeting between these two should paint a clear picture of the type of match we can expect to witness.
Action starts at 10am PT on Pickleballtv.
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