ROCKWALL, TX - Ben Johns is the men’s singles champion in the Lonestar State after a 2-11, 11-3, 11-9 victory over Chris Haworth.

Haworth came out of the gate on fire, painting lines on his third shots and passing the No. 1 seed with ease.

But Johns didn’t let the Game 1 defeat get to him, and he erased an 0-3 deficit in the second game to force a decider.

One of the main differences between the first two games was the effectiveness of Haworth’s service returns on the forehand side. In Game 1, the Oklahoma City native hit return after return deep into the corners, which put Johns on the defensive when trying to hit third shots.

Going for those aggressive returns would come back to bite Haworth in Game 2, and he gifted Johns three free points off of missed returns.

Those struggles continued in Game 3, as five more missed returns proved to be Haworth’s downfall. He made a run from 5-10 to make it 9-10, but Johns eventually closed it out to claim the title.

“Chris is clearly a top singles player,” Johns said after the battle. “He plays a really big ball, and I was definitely on my heels in that first game. He had some miraculous passing shots that I haven’t seen before, so it was mostly about adjusting to his patterns a little better in Games 2 and 3.”

This win gives Johns his fifth singles titles of 2024, while Haworth also claimed his first PPA Tour medal with his performance this week.

Johns will go for his second title of the day when he and Anna Leigh Waters take on JW and Jorja Johnson in mixed doubles.