It was semifinal Saturday from the Las Vegas Pickleball Cup. We had 10 matches on the day, all on Humana Championship Court. It was a day full of action.

 

1. Kate is great. Kate Fahey continued her roll through the women’s singles draw, with an 11-6, 11-9 win over Lacy Schneemann. Fahey has not lost a game this event. She will get her toughest test on Championship Sunday against Anna Leigh Waters, but win or lose, it is time to put Fahey in the top five for singles; maybe even at #2.

 

 

2. Fede is steady. Federico Staksrud has faced a daunting list of singles opponents this week, but has met every challenge. Saturday, the opponent was Jaume Martinez Vich, who played very well, but the result was still a Staksrud victory. Staksrud will face Dylan Frazier on Sunday in the gold medal match.

 

 

3. Anna Leigh goes three for three. Anna Leigh Waters played three semifinal matches and won all three. She is in the finals in singles, mixed doubles (with Ben Johns) and women’s doubles (with Catherine Parenteau). I would not bet against her in the gold medal match in any of the three.

 

4.  Zane and Bar go far. Zane Navratil and Dekel Bar continued to power through the men’s doubles draw. They dropped the first game to Christian Alshon and Riley Newman, but upped their power game to take the next two games and the match. They were relentless with their powerful serves, powerful drives, and overall fast pace.

 

5. Tardio is on time. Navratil and Bar will face Andrei Daescu and Gabe Tardio in the men’s doubles final. Daescu and Tardio defeated Tyler Loong and Connor Garnett in a close three-game battle. Loong and Garnett targeted Daescu all game, but Tardio made the best of the balls he did see. Tardio has been the best player all week, and Daescu has upped his game at key times. The battle between the power of Navratil and Bar against the counterattacks of Tardio and Daescu will be fascinating to watch.

 

All five gold medal matches will be great to watch. The grandstand court matches for the bronze medals will also feature top level play. Come on out to the Fontainebleau Resort to catch all the action.

 

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