PEACHTREE CORNERS, GA - Matt Wright and Federico Staksrud started their partnership off with a win, but it was a little more complicated than they both would have liked.

The No. 3 seeds dropped Game 1 of their Round of 32 match against No. 29 seeds Will Howells and C.J. Klinger 10-12, but they rallied behind their patience and pattern recognition at the kitchen line to take the next two games 12-10, 11-7 to secure a victory in their first match together.

Playing against Klinger and Howells is no easy task, especially in an early round; the two have a gold medal together from APP Punta Gorda back in January.

“C.J. and Will are top tier players, so this could easily have been a semifinal or bronze medal match,” Staksrud said of the matchup.

Even in his first event playing with his new partner, Staksrud already sees the impact that Wright’s on court energy brings.

“He’s a guy who’s going to bring me up to where I need to be if he sees me with bad or low energy,” Staksrud shared.

Wright did that—and more—as he and Will Howells’ back-and-forth chirping became one of the key dynamics of the match, and both players frequently went at each other down the line during ralleys. 

With the win, the new pairing advances to the Round of 16 where they will face the winner of the match between Julian Arnold and Jack Munro and Martin Emmrich and Daniel de la Rosa.