
Miami ends skid with sweep of Hustlers as Funemizu makes history
The Miami Pickleball Club (7-10, 19pts) snapped a five-match losing streak with a 4-0 sweep of the New York Hustlers (3-12, 8pts) in Friday’s first match on Championship Court.
This is Miami’s first event since MLP Austin in May, where they failed to get a win against a gauntlet of top teams including the Dallas Flash, New Jersey 5s, Texas Ranchers, and Orlando Squeeze.
They fell to Orlando again on Thursday before getting back on track against New York on Friday to keep possession of the tenth and final playoff spot at the Premier level.
“We hadn’t won a match in our last couple, so this was a good win after yesterday,” said Miami’s Noe Khlif after the performance. “I didn’t think we played badly yesterday, but we played a good team, so today it came down to executing the basics, believing in ourselves, and just getting back on track.”
But Friday’s match was a special one for reasons other than what was on the scoreboard.
Yuta Funemizu, Miami’s third rostered male who is filling in for Jay Devilliers this week, became the first Japanese player ever to record a game win in Major League Pickleball.
The former soft tennis world champion picked up victories in men’s doubles with Khlif and mixed doubles with Mya Bui to etch his name in MLP history.
Funemizu and the rest of Miami’s squad will be back in action later Friday afternoon when they take on the Brooklyn Pickleball Team (10-5, 33pts).
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