Coming into this week, Ben Johns/Gabe Tardio had won the men’s doubles title at two of the four tournaments they had played together since beginning their partnership in February.

After their 10-12, 11-7, 11-8, 4-11, 11-3 triumph over No. 2 seeds Federico Staksrud/Hayden Patriquin on Sunday, they’ve now struck gold in 60% of their tournament outings.

Staksrud/Patriquin seemed to have all the momentum after comfortably taking Game 4 11-4 to send the contest to a decider, but Johns/Tardio reached a new level in the final game and went on to close out the match after over two hours on court.

“Obviously, it’s nobody’s goal to go to give games. You want to do it faster, but a win is a win. [Federico and Hayden] played some really great games, and it definitely swung back and forth; those are the matches that I think people enjoy a lot,” Johns said. “I think we executed well in that last game, so I’m happy to come away with a W.”

It’s only fitting that the top two seeds faced off in this week’s final. Both teams actually have the same number of PPA rankings points between them at 28,100, but the top seed went to Johns/Tardio because Johns is the highest-ranked individual player on either team at No. 1.

Sunday’s result should help clear up who the true top seed is, at least for now.

Tardio, who is currently No. 5 in the men’s doubles rankings, is happy to see his ranking improving as he continues to excel alongside Johns.

“I think my ranking hasn’t been the best for a while now, so getting to play with Ben has definitely helped that,” he joked.

Even though Johns/Tardio have made the final of every tournament they’ve played so far, Johns sees massive improvement from their first tournament together to now.

“The first tournament and fifth tournaments are just worlds apart, and I think we’re only getting better,” he noted. “Gabe is the best right-sider in the world right now, and it’s just a pleasure to play with him.”

In the bronze medal match, No. 4 seeds JW Johnson/CJ Klinger defeated No. 3 seeds Christian Alshon/Andrei Daescu by an 11-3, 11-5 score line.