BRISTOL, TN - The latest stop on the PPA Tour took the pros to eastern Tennessee for the IHG Hotels & Resorts Bristol Open presented by Deep Eddy Vodka.

 

It was a little bit of a rainy week, with some matches moved indoors. It was a week filled with upsets, with new winners, but also with some familiar faces playing on Sunday.

 

 

Anna Leigh Waters sat this one out, due to a mild injury. That created a wide open field.  The #5 seed, Brooke Buckner took full advantage of ALW’s absence for the second tournament in a row, taking down the gold. Buckner defeated #6 seed Kaitlyn Christian in the final, 11-3, 3-11, 11-7. Buckner really earned this gold medal, defeating Emilia Schmidt, Lacy Schneemann, Catherine Parenteau, and Salome Davidze, before reaching the final. #14 Chao Yi Wang grabbed the bronze medal, a notably fine performance by an up and coming player.

 

 

 

Waters was healthy enough for mixed doubles and she teamed with Ben Johns to easily take the event. They were, of course, seeded first, and cruised to the win, not losing a single game. They defeated the #2 seed, Anna Bright/Christian Alshon in the final. A new pairing of Jackie Kawamoto/Jaume Martinez Vich rode the #14 seed to the bronze medal. Kawamoto proved again what a versatile performer she is, capable of a long run partnered up with a wide variety of players. The discontinuation of the Parenteau/Jack Sock partnership resulted in Sock going further this week. Sock teamed with Lea Jansen and made the quarters, while CP paired with Andrei Daescu but was ousted in the round of 16. Neither CP nor Sock have yet found substantial and consistent success since their partnership ended. It will be interesting to follow along to see who they play with going forward. It does look like Sock will stick with Jansen; but who will be a long term partner for CP?

 

 

 

Another tournament and another gold medal for top seeded Waters/Parenteau. Once again, they did not lose a game on their way to the title. Indeed, no opponents were even able to score as many as seven points in any game. #2 seed Anna Bright/Rachel Rohrabacher took the silver. Bright/Rohrabacher had to fight through some tough matches to get to the final, most notably their epic quarterfinal match against #10 Buckner/Wang. The two seed won 11-3, 2-11, 13-11, with each team exchanging match points before it ended. It was a great effort by the underdogs, who almost pulled off a great upset.

 

 

 

The final came down to the long-sought rematch of top seed Federico Staksrud against second seed Ben Johns. Staksrud has been the most consistent men’s singles player all year, but Johns seems to have his number. Johns emerged victorious again, 11-4, 11-9. Tyson McGuffin continued his consistent play, grabbing the bronze. Staksrud’s road to the final was notably difficult; he had to defeat Noe Khlif, Cason Campbell, Martinez Vich, and Quang Duong to earn the right to face Ben Johns.

 

 

 

The MLP pairing of Alshon/Duong was the big story of this tournament. They were seeded #8 and won it all. In the final, they defeated #2 seed Ben and Collin Johns 11-7, 11-7, 12-10. #6 seed Jay Devillers/Pablo Tellez had a fine event, taking the bronze over #7 James Ignatowich/Daescu. Tellez again showed his versatility, able to make strong runs with a wide variety of partners. One very notable match was from the round of 16, where #16 Todd Fought/Michael Loyd defeated the top seeded team of JW Johnson/Dylan Frazier 11-6, 1-11, 11-9.

 

 

 

A number of MLP Challenger players had strong tournaments. Wang made the semis in singles and the quarters in women’s doubles. Her Las Vegas Night Owl teammate Judit Castillo made the semis in women’s doubles and the quarters in singles. Another former Night Owl, Anderson Scarpa, made the quarters in men’s doubles, teamed with Greg Dow. Other Challenger players to make it to the quarters (or further) include Fought, Martinez Vich, and Ewa Radzikowska.

 

Making the quarterfinals in a PPA event is HARD. These draws are increasingly difficult. Just getting to the draw is even difficult. In the qualifier events, there were 104 players in men’s doubles, 67 in men’s singles, 90 in mixed doubles, 31 in women’s singles, and 44 in women’s doubles. Any player making the quarterfinals in a PPA event really earned it.

 

Finally, the win by Alshon and Duong was a great example of where pro pickleball is in 2024, and where it will be going forward. Alshon/Duong played a relentlessly aggressive style, and overpowered opponents with their fast game. The Johns were clearly ready for it, and responded by playing a more aggressive style themselves, but Alshon/Duong still overpowered them. Expect to see more and more players copy what Alshon/Duong did in this event. It will be interesting to see how players who play a more traditional style respond and adjust.

 

 

Next up is The Picklr Utah Open beginning on Wednesday. It will be another great event.

 

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