Daescu, Tardio claim second men's doubles gold medal in a row
The ninth-seeded tandem of Andrei Daescu and Gabe Tardio added a second straight men’s doubles gold medal to their respective trophy cases on Sunday at the Las Vegas Pickleball Cup.
After finishing atop the podium in Utah exactly one week ago, Daescu and Tardio defeated the No. 7 seeds Dekel Bar and Zane Navratil by a score of 11-6, 3-11, 11-9, 11-2 to reign supreme again.
It was a picture-perfect result for the victorious duo, who beat top seeds Dylan Frazier and JW Johnson in the quarterfinals and eighth-seeded Connor Garnett and Tyler Loong in the semis en route to another impressive triumph.
Bottom line, this pair has major chemistry.
“We both play back in Florida. We’ve known each other for three years now. We just practice all the time,” explained Tardio, following the nearly 90-minute battle. “He prefers the left, I prefer the right. We’re both super steady and aggressive at the same time, so I think that’s the main thing.”
Daescu, 36, was quick to praise his young partner for standing especially tall in the third stanza when things weren’t trending in the right direction on the scoreboard.
A successful rally provided the momentum they ultimately needed to get the job done.
“Props to Gabe for hanging in there. We had a tough start in Game 3, but we came back. I think it was 9-5 [for Dekel and Zane], and we came back all the way back to 11-9, and that kind of set the tone for Game 4,” said Daescu. “That speaks volumes for a guy like that, who’s 18 years old, to compete at that high level, not be afraid, and go for it.”
Daescu is hoping to claim many more titles alongside Tardio in the future, beginning at the CIBC Atlanta Slam later this month.
“We’ve got to continue to train together. We live about 15 minutes away from each other. We’re riding some good momentum. We’re playing together in Atlanta, and hopefully we’ll pick up some more wins. Obviously, the field is super tough and competitive, so we’re not taking anything for granted,” he shared. “We’re just happy to get those two in a row, and hopefully we can continue this great momentum.”
Daescu and Tardio also earned silver medals earlier this season at the Carvana Mesa Arizona Cup and the Selkirk Red Rock Open.
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