
Black, Alshon shine as Alshon makes second final in Tucson
Tyra Black/Christian Alshon closed out Friday’s action at Tucson Racquet & Fitness Club with an 11-5, 11-9 victory over No. 5 seeds Maggie Brascia/JW Johnson.
The pair’s complementary game styles were on full display in the bout; Alshon used his length to crash off of aggressive third shots, while Black provided necessary pressure at the kitchen line with her reach and counters.
For Alshon, he’s into his second final of the week after also making it to the title match in men’s singles.
He spoke about the experience of switching from singles to doubles from day to day.
“I mean, they’re two completely different sports. Coming in today after a full day of singles, it felt kind of weird to just stand at the kitchen and have balls get hit straight to me because that doesn’t really happen in singles,” he explained.
Black/Alshon will face top seeds Anna Leigh Waters/Ben Johns in Sunday’s final, which will be a rematch of their epic semifinal clash at last month’s PPA Masters—that Waters/Johns won after saving four match points against.
Black isn’t putting too much pressure on herself going into the highly anticipated rematch.
“I don’t think we did anything wrong the last time we played them. We went for our shots and did things right, so I’m really happy with it,” she said. “It doesn’t make a difference to me if we win or lose—I’m just here to have fun and work my hardest, and that’s what I’m gonna do on Sunday.”
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