Day three of the Las Vegas Cup brought us Round of 16 action, but the level of play in many matches was that of a medal round.

There were a lot of highlights to go over.

 

1. There’s a new marshall in town. One grandstand match had so much going for it, I could spend all day talking about it. Marshall Brown and Rob Cassidy took on Andrei Daescu and Gabe Tardio. Brown is not all that well known, but he can flat out play. Greg Dow and I did the commentary for the match and we were both impressed with Brown’s play, even in an 11-7, 11-7 defeat. He hardly missed a dink all match, and showed an excellent backhand volley. The rest of his play was solid. Look for him to move up in the rankings and get some good, consistent results.

 

2. The twirl! In that same match, Cassidy was so much fun to watch. His unconventional play featured him twirling around, doing a 360 in the middle of the point. Not once, but twice. I asked him about it later and he said he felt it put him in the best position for the next shot. Not a strategy I recommend, but boy was it fun to watch.

 

3. Steady as they come. Again, in that same match, I have to note how steady Tardio and Daescu played. Despite the excellent play of Brown and the unusual plays of Cassidy, Tardio and Daescu just stuck to what they do well. Along with the Johns brothers and JW Johnson/Dylan Frazier, you have to list Daescu/Tardio as a very top team. Tardio especially continues to improve greatly. It is time to talk about Tardio as a top 10 player.

 

4. Anna can pick ‘em. Anna Bright is teaming this week with Tina Pisnik. Although it is not unusual for a top player like Bright to play with different partners, the one thing about Bright is she always plays with a perfect fit. Bright and Pisnik cruised into the quarters with a win over Alix Truong and Judit Castillo. Truong and Castillo were gamers, giving max effort on every point, every shot. But Bright and Pisnik played tough and steady. Bright and Pisnik played solid pickleball. Anna Bright showed again that she has a claim as the smartest pickleball pro.

 

5. Talk about your slow starters. Catherine Parenteau and Riley Newman continued to gamble with slow starts. In the Round of 32, they overcame a 10-2 first game start. In the round of 16, they lost game one to Hunter Johnson/Parris Todd 11-3, but came back to win in three games. They have the talent to win it all, but at some point, these slow starts will bite them.

 

Friday brings us quarterfinal action. Great matches are lined up everywhere you look. Christian Alshon/Anna Bright v Gabe Tardio/Jessie Irvine, Lea Jansen v Kate Fahey, JW Johnson/Dylan Frazier v Andrei Daescu/Gabe Tardio, Federico Staksrud v Jack Sock, and Anna Leigh Waters/Catherine Parenteau v Mary and Maggie Brascia. Wow!

And those are just some of the great matches on tap.

 

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