This week marks the first time that the PPA has come to Tucson, and it already seems like it might be Christian Alshon’s favorite tour stop,

He’s into his first men’s singles final since 2023 after a dominant 11-1, 11-3 victory over No. 8 seed Jack Sock in a match that lasted just 21 minutes.

He didn’t only dominate in the semifinals, however; on a day where top seed Federico Staksrud was knocked out early, Alshon didn’t give up more than three points in any of the eight games he played across four matches.

“[Fed] would have been my quarterfinal matchup, so I got a little lucky there,” he said. “I’ve just been trying to play within myself, which is helping me play well.”

Injuries forced Alshon to stay off the singles court for a substantial portion of 2024, but he has started off 2025 with a quarterfinal run at the PPA Masters and a finals appearance in Tucson.

“I was out of singles for seven months, which is crazy because singles is where I started in the sport,” he noted. “I missed it so much because you can really show your athleticism. I think pickleball sometimes gets a bad rep for not being an athletic sport, but some of us singles guys really change that.”

The 24-year-old will look to secure his first career PPA singles title on Sunday when he takes on either Dylan Frazier or Hunter Johnson.