Dylan Frazier and JW Johnson playing pickleball.
Dylan Frazier and JW Johnson competing at the Veolia Austin Open powered by Invited. PPA Tour

Is Dylan Frazier Pitbull? APP Miami Pickleball Open Recap

MIAMI, FL - Hear me out: are Dylan Frazier and Pitbull the same person? I’ve never seen them in the same room, and after Frazier’s performance this weekend in South Beach, he might actually be ‘Mr. 305.’

Keep reading for more on Frazier’s accomplishments and other storylines from the APP Miami Pickleball Open.

Double Gold for Frazier

Frazier took home gold in both his events, winning men’s doubles with JW Johnson and mixed doubles with Hurricane Tyra Black.

These are his first gold medals on the APP Tour since 2022.

Frazier and Black were especially impressive as a partnership and didn’t drop a single game, despite having played a limited number of tournaments before this one.

“It’s so awesome to play with Dylan,” Black said after winning her first APP title. “We’ve played a few times together, so it was nice to get a lot of reps in a lot of matches. It was a great experience, and mixed doubles is my favorite event, so it was so much fun to win that gold out there for the first time.”

No. 1 Seeds Prevail in Singles

Several top singles players including JW Johnson, Chris Haworth, Yates Johnson, Judit Castillo, and Jorja Johnson failed to make it to Championship Sunday, but Hunter Johnson and Megan Fudge showed why they’re deserving of a No. 1 next to their names.

Johnson took down first-time finalist Grayson Goldin in the men’s singles final 15-13, 15-8, and Fudge beat Jenna Hessert 15-13, 15-13 for her first title of 2024.

Johnson, Rane Won’t be Denied

Jorja Johnson and Milan Rane won the women’s doubles final against Megan Fudge and Susannah Barr in two games, but they were really close to not even making it to Championship Sunday.

And I mean really, really close.

In their semifinal match against Ewa Radzikowska and Judit Castillo, Johnson and Rane found themselves trailing 1-9 in the deciding game before scoring the match’s final ten points to rally and keep their hopes of a gold medal alive.

They didn’t look back from there and cruised to an 11-8, 11-1 in the final.

Castillo makes SportsCenter Top 10

Castillo may have come out on the losing end of that aforementioned women’s doubles semifinal, but she definitely made up for it in the bronze medal match.

She made it to No. 5 on the SportsCenter Top 10 with a well-disguised ATP.

Team USA takes inaugural Atlantic Cup

In the first-ever international team pickleball event, Team USA erased a 2-4 deficit going into the final day of matches with three mixed doubles victories to pull off the comeback against Team Europe.

Ava Kalist and Richard Livornese Jr. clinched the Atlantic Cup title for Team USA.