
Johns outduels H. Johnson to capture men’s singles gold
Ben Johns secured his second title in Virginia Beach with an 11-5, 11-9 victory over No. 10 seed Hunter Johnson.
Johnson has been on a tear in recent weeks, winning his first career PPA title in Atlanta last month and beating Federico Staksrud in two games in the semifinals.
But Johns didn’t let that stop him from using a closing 6-0 run to take the first game.
In Game 2, however, Johnson caught fire with his passing shots and gained an 8-3 advantage. Just as it seemed like fans would certainly get to see another deciding game on Humana Championship Court, Johns again rallied off six in a row to turn the tide.
The No. 2 seed closed out the match moments later to earn his seventh singles title of 2024.
After already having played nine games of pickleball through his first two matches of the day, Johns was ecstatic to avoid a Game 3.
“I was definitely happy to finish that one in two,” he mentioned. “Hunter hit some incredible passing shots that I had no chance at, so I was hoping that I wouldn’t have to see too many more of those.”
This is the 25-year-old’s second title in Virginia Beach after he and Anna Leigh Waters won the mixed doubles final against Jorja and JW Johnson earlier.
In the bronze medal match, Jaume Martinez Vich defeated Federico Staksrud by a 13-11, 11-8 score line.
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