The round of 16 at the Rate Vegas Cup kept fans on the edge of their seats on Thursday, emphasizing that there are no easy matches in pickleball anymore. 

AL. Waters just squeaked out game one 13-11 against Vegas local Lara Giltinan after fighting off a game point, then finished her off 11-3 in game two. 

“I’ve never played her before, I didn’t watch any of her previous matches, which maybe looking back, I should have,” Waters admitted. “She moved very well, she had great passing shots [...] she played amazing in that first game.”

Meanwhile, Ben Johns came into the tournament as the surprising #7 seed. It’s been a while since Johns has entered a singles bracket, but he came out guns blazing in game one, taking it 11-2 against Gabe Joseph. 

Johns debuted a different style of singles play throughout the course of the event, choosing to pummel groundstrokes and stay back until he found a more opportune time to come in.

“I’ve actually seen Ben Johns hit more passes than I think I’ve ever seen him hit and when we watched him play his first match on Grandstand the other day, he actually stayed back on some of these points,” remarked Parris Todd, who was commentating the match alongside longtime play-by-play announcer, Drew Fellios. “I’ve never seen that from Ben, so I have to question whether this is the Life Time ball.”

Todd is likely referring to the fact that the Life Time ball plays bouncier than previous Tour balls and is also more forgiving – making it sit up more and improve the efficacy of groundstrokes and passing shots. To some, the LIfe Time ball is the death of the singles cat-and-mouse game, but only time will tell which strategies prevail. 

In the end, Joseph made a massive run to take down the former #1 in three games, winning the next two games 11-2, 11-5. 

The other story of the day revolved around the match-up between Zane Ford and Federico Staksrud, who had had a heated match at the LT Open just a few days prior where Ford accused Staksrud of purposefully delaying the match by not getting his competition paddle tested in a timely manner before the match. Staksurd commented on Ford's post, apologizing and maintaining that it was not an intentional delay. Staksrud won both matches, logging his latest victory against Ford 11-5, 9-11, 11-5. 

Jaume Martinez Vich also completed a big win against Chris Haworth, who was searching for a back-to-back-to-back triple title run, after winning gold in Virginia Beach and the LT Open in Atlanta. The match was a good one, with Vich showing off his signature cheerful persona and unreal physical athleticism on court while coming from behind to winning the match 3-11, 11-9, 11-9. 

Play continues tomorrow at 10:00am PT on Pickleballtv with the quarterfinals in all three divisions. Be sure to tune in and follow us on social for timely news and updates at @pickleballdotcom.