A rainy week in Atlanta wrapped on Sunday.

Fortunately, the Championship Sunday matches were able to go outdoors.

 

 

First, kudos to Life Time Fitness and PPA personnel, for doing a great job adjusting to some difficult weather. It’s not easy to start with an outdoor tournament, then have to adjust to rainy conditions and indoor play, and then switch back. But it was done without a hitch for the pro matches, which finished right on time.

 

 

Much has been written about the relatively poor performance by the Johns brothers in men’s doubles over the course of the last few months. Their prior play has set a very high bar. So, when they fail to win a medal or they go a couple of tournaments without a gold, questions are raised. The main issue was a failure by Collin Johns to adjust his play to the prevailing faster style now prevalent on the PPA Tour. Well, on Sunday, Collin came out firing, playing a more aggressive style, as he has done all week. The proof that a more aggressive style was needed is shown by the result, a gold medal win over #7 seed Tyson McGuffin/Jaume Martinez Vich, 11-4, 11-0, 6-11, 11-4. McGuffin/Martinez Vich played aggressively all week, and that aggression was met head on by the Johns brothers. Congratulations to Collin for making the needed adjustment, but a fair question is, what took you so long?

 

 

 

Rarely are the words “Anna Leigh Waters lost” ever printed. But in women's’ doubles, that rare statement is accurate this week, as #2 seed Anna Bright/Rachel Rohrabacher defeated Waters and Catherine Parenteau, 11-3, 11-9, 9-11, 11-5. As was true in men’s doubles, the winners played a very aggressive style, speeding it up on every possible occasion. We will take a much deeper dive into the details of this match later this week.

 

 

 

While Waters lost one match, that wasn’t going to happen in singles. She defeated #7 Parris Todd 11-1, 11-6. It was complete domination all week by Waters. She won five matches, ten games, and lost only 33 points. This is a staggering statistic. She won her ten games by an average score of 11-3.3. That is domination.

 

 

 

No triple crown this week for Waters, but she did combine with Ben Johns to win mixed doubles. They defeated Catherine Parenteau/Christian Alshon 11-6, 11-6, 12-10. Two golds in a tournament for any normal pro would be a fantastic week; for Waters it is a bit of a disappointment. That’s how good she is.

 

 

 

Finally, in men’s singles, #20 seed Hunter Johnson grabbed his first gold medal. He defeated #3 seed Connor Garnett 11-2, 8-11, 11-9, in a very close and competitive match. Major props to Johnson for not only winning, but doing so from a #20 seed. Men’s singles continues to be highly competitive and thus unpredictable.

 

 

Next up on the PPA Tour is the Stratusphere Gin Virginia Beach Cup.

 

It begins September 30. Get your tickets now!

 

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