Friday brought quarterfinal action to the Fontainebleau Resort.

The day featured a little of everything, but mostly great pickleball and exciting matches.

 

1. One through four are no more. In men’s doubles, the top four seeds all made the quarters and all four were defeated. JW Johnson/Dylan Frazier, the Johns brothers, Matt Wright/Federico Staksrud, and Hayden Patriquin/Pablo Tellez all lost. That is a testament to how difficult and unpredictable is the men’s doubles draw.

 

2. Alshon rising. Christian Alshon showed again he is the antidote to Ben and Collin Johns. Alshon defeated them this time paired with Riley Newman. It took three games and a 12-10 third game thriller, but they got it done.

 

 

3. Hello, Newman! In addition to the men’s doubles win, Riley Newman added a win in mixed doubles with Catherine Parenteau over James Ignatowich and Vivian Glozman. Unlike the last two rounds, this time Newman/Parenteau started fast and won in two games.

 

4. Bright shines, again. Anna Bright earned a berth in the semis in both women’s doubles and mixed doubles. She cruised with Christian Alshon in mixed doubles, with an easy victory over last week’s gold medal winners Jessie Irvine/Gabe Tardio. Paired with Tina Pisnik, she added an easy victory in women’s doubles. She appears headed to a couple of finals showdowns with Anna Leigh Waters.

 

 

5. Fahey in the top 5? Kate Fahey won an impressive 11-3, 11-5 match over #3 seed Lea Jansen. At this point, we have to start seeing Fahey as a top 5 singles player. She is making strides in doubles as well, although there she is more like top 20. Will she be a top 5 all around player within a year? We may be in Vegas, but I would not bet against her.

 

Saturday brings us semifinal action, all on Humana Championship Court, all on PickleballTV. All 10 matches are must-see pickleball.

 

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