In 2019, Kaitlyn Christian had a career-best finish at the Australian Open, making it to the third round in women’s doubles.

Six years later, the former top-40 ranked WTA doubles player is back making waves in Melbourne—this time, on the pickleball court.

Christian is into the women’s singles final at the Proton Australia Pickleball Open, which marks her third consecutive PPA tournament making it to Championship Sunday in singles.

The journey wasn’t easy for the top seed, though.

Christian narrowly moved past No. 14 seed Roos van Reek in the quarterfinals, dropping the first game before coming back for an 8-11, 11-4, 11-9 triumph.

From there, she dispatched 17-year-old Nicola Schoeman—the first overall pick in the 2025 MLP Australia draft—by an 11-3, 11-2 score line.

“It’s very fun playing internationally for the first time. Melbourne is one of my favorite cities, so it’s just been a joy getting to meet some of the Aussie players,” she said.

Christian will face No. 12 seed Somer Dalla-Bona in Sunday’s final.

Dalla-Bona breezed through her section of the draw, dispatching Danni-Elle Townsend and Jessie Irvine in straight games to set a semifinal bout against her former Northern Crocs teammate, Andie Dikosavljevic.

After a convincing 11-0, 11-6 victory, she spoke about the challenges of playing against someone she’s spent so much time competing with.

“It’s always tough going out against a friend, but we both played well, and I think it was a good match today,” she said.

Dolla-Bona will look to capture her fifth career singles title—while Christian will go for her second career PPA gold—when the two face off on Sunday at the Melbourne Convention and Exhibit Center.