The PPA Tour takes over from MLP with this week’s event from San Clemente. 

 

The Select Medical Orange County Cup presented by FitVine Wines will be played at Life Time Rancho San Clemente. This will be a progressive draw, beginning Monday.

All of the usual suspects will be present, except for Jack Sock.

 

 

Anna Leigh Waters and Catherine Parenteau were not in action at MLP DC, so they should be well rested and are likely to face each other yet again as the #1 and #2 seeds. Parenteau has the tougher draw, with #3 Lea Jansen presenting a major obstacle. One low seed who could make some noise is #18 Rachel Rohrabacher. She doesn’t play a lot of PPA singles events, but she showed in MLP Dreambreakers that she has singles skills. There is increasing depth in the women’s singles draw. Even the round of 16 could see such tough matchups as #8 Judit Castillo v #11 Jorja Johnson, and #5 Lauren Stratman v #9 Kaitlyn Christian.

 

Ben Johns and Federico Staksrud take turns each week being the #1 seed. This week, Staksrud has the top seed, and has received the much easier draw. Johns, as the #2 seed, faces a potentially brutal series of matches if he wants to get to the finals. Johns could potentially play #32 Hunter Johnson, #13 Roscoe Bellamy, #8 Quang Duong, and then the winner of #3 Connor Garnett and #5 Dylan Frazier. What a difficult series of matches! I think the match we all want to see is a Johns v Staksrud final, but if Johns is going to get there, he is really going to have to earn it. Staksrud has a much easier draw, and appears likely to make it to the final. One low seed to watch is #38 Noe Khlif. He has a very good singles game, and has a reasonable play to potentially make the semis.

 

 

 

Ben Johns and Anna Leigh Waters are the #1 seed and are definite favorites to win mixed doubles. One team standing in their way will likely be #6 seed Federico Staksrud/Rachel Rohrabacher. Staksrud/Rohrabacher have been making progress in prior events and continue to look for a big signature win. Could this be the one? Anna Bright and James Ignatowich take the #2 seed and they are always tough. One new team is #5 Riley Newman teaming with Lea Jansen. They look headed for a round of 16 matchup against #9 Matt Wright and Lucy Kovalova. If that one happens, the stands should be packed and there just may be some chirping involved. Talk about must see pickleball.

 

 

 

To no one’s surprise, the #1 seed is the pairing of ALW/CP. they have a favorable draw, so another gold medal appears likely. Anna Bright and Rachel Rohrabacher get the #2 seed, but have a much tougher draw than the top seed. Bright/Rorhabacher will have to get by, among others, the #4 seed of Etta Wright/Meghan Dizon. A couple of lower seeds could make some noise. At #12 are Jorja Johnson/Mari Humberg. That pair has medaled before at PPA events and is capable of beating anyone. Unfortunately, they can be inconsistent and therefore can also lose to anyone. At #13, Brooke Buckner and Chao Yi Wang team up. That is a combo of two solid players, and they have a draw that could lead to some success.

 

 

Ben and Collin Johns assume the top seed, as usual. The men’s doubles draw is always the toughest and deepest draw of any event, so they will as usual face a number of tough teams, although probably not until the quarterfinals in this tournament. The #2 seed is JW Johnson/Dylan Frazier and they have a decent draw and are as always a threat to win it all. One interesting match to hope for is an anticipated quarterfinal match between #3 seed Federico Staksrud/Matt Wright and #8 seed Riley Newman/Zane Navratil. If you thought there might be chirping in the mixed doubles matchup, wait till you see this one. If it happens, it is a must see match. Another player to watch will be Quang Doung. He along with Donald Young is seeded #20. Despite the low seed, they have a very reasonable draw. Duong was a star of MLP DC, but his PPA doubles results have lagged. Was it because of lack of a good partner? That will not be an issue this week, as Young has been playing better and better and as a lefty, allows Duong to play freely on the left side. It will be interesting to see if Duong can translate success at MLP to success at PPA.

 

The weather is supposed to be perfect for pickleball. If you are in or near SoCal, come on out and watch. I know I will be there each day, to see these great players go at it.

If you can’t make it in person, check it out on TV.

 

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