
Johnson and Klinger, Devilliers and Wright set semifinal clash with three-game victories
The pairings of JW Johnson/CJ Klinger and Jay Devilliers/Matt Wright will face off in the men’s doubles semifinals after earning come-from-behind wins Friday afternoon.
Johnson/Klinger advanced with a 6-11, 11-6, 11-6 victory over No. 5 seeds Dekel Bar/Tyson McGuffin.
It seemed like a majority of the balls in the kitchen rallies went to Klinger’s backhand, but the 19-year-old remained solid throughout the final two games as the No. 4 seeds continued their pursuit of a second title together.
“Tyson’s very solid on the forehand, so I got a lot of backhands,” Klinger said afterwards. “I got probably 80% of the balls to my backhand, and I was trying to figure out which spots I could go to mix things up, and then which shots I could attack. And having JW to my left definitely helped with his hands and power.”
Jay Devilliers/Matt Wright—who took out defending champions and No. 2 seeds Federico Staksrud/Hayden Patriquin 2-11, 11-4, 11-9—await in the semifinals.
The No. 8 seeds have made a habit out of playing three games so far in Virginia Beach, as all three of their matches so far have gone the distance.
The tour veterans, both of whom have been in excellent form recently, will look to maintain their momentum and surge into the final.
Ben Johns/Gabe Tardio will take on Christian Alshon/Andrei Daescu in the other semifinal, also set for Saturday.
You can catch all the action on Pickleballtv.
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