MLP moves to the Big Apple with play Thursday, July 3 through Sunday, July 6.

Six teams are competing: New York, Miami, Orlando, Carolina, Brooklyn, and Columbus. Brooklyn and Columbus are coming off a successful run in San Clemente and will look to further improve their playoff position. Orlando and Miami have had up and down seasons and need to do well to hold their playoff spots. New York and Carolina are well out of current playoff contention, but will look to claw their way back into the conversation with a big weekend. If nothing else, New York and Carolina can be spoilers if they should score a win against one of the top teams.

 

 

Brooklyn will almost certainly be missing Riley Newman again. Last week in San Clemente, Brooklyn was also missing Dekel Bar and supersub Pat Smith. We expect Bar and Smith to be back this week, but if not, we could see AJ Koller and Rafa Hewett again. Koller in particular filled in well in San Clemente. Brooklyn’s women, Rachel Rohrabacher and Jackie Kawamoto, carried Brooklyn in Southern California, playing very well. Look for Brooklyn to have a good week again as this team has excellent depth.

 

 

The Columbus roster on paper stacks up with any team in MLP. Andrei Daescu, CJ Klinger, Parris Todd, and Lea Jansen are all overall top 10 players. No other team in MLP features four starters who are all top 10 overall players. Columbus struggled early in the season with some players missing time, but they were at full strength in San Clemente. They had a good, but not great week in San Clemente, going 3-1 with 10 team points. It was a success, yet there was a loss to LA that should never have happened. Daescu won both of his matches, but Lea Jansen dropped both of her matches, leading to a DreamBreaker. Columbus hung tough in the DreamBreaker, but LA prevailed 21-19. The key doubles match was Klinger/Jansen vs. Hunter Johnson/Jade Kawamoto. On paper, Klinger/Jansen should be a big favorite. Yet, they dropped the match 11-8. Combined with Columbus losing the women’s doubles match 11-6, that was enough to force a DreamBreaker, which is where LA wants to play every match. That loss to LA fell squarely on Jansen. Klinger played well in the mixed match, but Jansen had unforced errors on key points, leading to the loss. Jansen tends to struggle in pressure situations, and MLP adds the extra pressure of team play. Columbus has the talent to win it all, but unless Jansen plays better in pressure situations, this team is vulnerable.

 

 

Orlando got off to a hot start to the MLP season, enjoying an early favorable schedule. They then played some better teams and struggled. Federico Staksrud and Dylan Frazier are as good as it gets on the men’s side, but the Lacy Schneemann/Samantha Parker combo is the weakest women’s lineup of any team in the top half of the standings. All the pressure is on Staksrud and Frazier as they basically have to win men’s doubles to have any chance. Orlando is sort of the flip side of LA, a team that basically has to win women’s doubles to have any chance. Orlando is likely to have a mixed week, beating the bad teams and losing to the good teams, which should be enough to help them hold on to a playoff spot.

 

 

 

I have no idea what Carolina is going to do in New York. They revamped their lineup, which included dropping Collin Johns. Collin should never have been drafted in the first place, but better late than never I suppose. The revamped lineup is likely to send out Ben Johns, Roscoe Bellamy, Etta Tuionetoa, and Tammy Emmrich. We could also see Martin Emmrich in the lineup. Either way, we should see the partner to Ben Johns play like they actually want to be there, which should help Carolina a lot. Tuionetoa is a big upgrade from Kaitlyn Christian in doubles. Losing Christian in singles hurts for DreamBreakers, but Bellamy will make up some of that gap, plus strength in singles is meaningless unless you can win two doubles matches, something that Carolina has mostly not been able to do. So much for Carolina depends on how well Ben Johns plays, and I have no clue what we will see on that score. My best wild guess is that Carolina will have an up and down MLP, probably winning when we least expect it, and losing when we expect them to win.

 

 

The team facing the most pressure in New York will be Miami. They have played better than expected so far, but all that has accomplished is to get them barely hanging on to the 10th and last playoff spot. Miami is only two points ahead of Chicago, but has played one less match, so they are essentially tied. Miami cannot afford to leave New York without at least five team points. The big match for them is against New York on Friday. That is Miami’s chance to get three points in a match.

 

 

On Thursday, Orlando will face Miami, two teams desperate to score team points. Can Miami at least force a DreamBreaker? 

On Friday, MLP will celebrate the Fourth of July with that Miami vs. New York match. Miami will desperately want three points, but New York will be playing for pride, and this match is their best chance for a victory. Two desperate teams should lead to an exciting match.

On Saturday, we have Orlando against Brooklyn to end the day. Brooklyn will be a big favorite in the women’s doubles match. Can Orlando pull out a men’s doubles victory and at least one upset in mixed doubles to force a DreamBreaker?

Finally, on Sunday, Brooklyn will tangle with Carolina in a really good test for the revamped Carolina roster. 

 

 

I have Columbus with a perfect weekend, netting 15 points in their five matches. 

Brooklyn should also do well, with 12 points in their four matches.

I have Orlando with eight, Carolina with six, Miami at three, and New York getting only a single point.

 

The effect should be for Columbus and Brooklyn to solidify their top five status, with Orlando hanging in there for a playoff spot. Miami will drop just a bit and I expect Chicago to eventually overtake them for the last playoff spot.

 

Tune in to Pickleballtv to see it all. Enjoy the Fourth of July!

 

Follow me on X @pickleball_jim for updates.