The next stop on the PPA Tour is the Las Vegas Pickleball Cup. This week’s competition will be held indoors at the beautiful Fontainebleau Resort. This will be a progressive draw with qualifier events beginning on Monday.

Let’s look at the road to Championship Sunday in each of the five events.

Mixed Doubles - The top seed goes to Ben Johns and Anna Leigh Waters. They should face an early test in the Round of 16 from #13 seed Andrei Daescu and Meghan Dizon.  The #2 seed goes to Anna Bright as usual, although this time playing with Christian Alshon. James Ignatowich plays this week with Vivian Glozman as the #4 seed. An old partnership is renewed between Catherine Parenteau and Riley Newman as the #6 seed. They have a reasonable draw, and we’ll see if they can match their former success. New partnerships of interest include Quang Duong/Lauren Stratman (#18), Chao Yi Wang/Pablo Tellez (#22), and Jack Sock/Kate Fahey (#24).

Men’s Doubles - The top seed goes to JW Johnson/Dylan Frazier. They’ve been ousted relatively early in their last two tournaments; can they regain their prior level of success? Ben and Collin Johns draw the #2 seed; they likely will play Duong (this time paired with Wyatt Stone) as the #15 seed in the Round of 16. Hayden Patriquin and Tellez get the #4 seed. They’ve had prior success together and have a very good path to the semi-finals. Alshon pairs this week with Newman. They are seeded #6 and face a likely quarter-final match against the Johns brothers. Another dangerous pair to watch out for is #9 seed Gabe Tardio/Daescu. They will probably face Johnson/Frazier in the quarters.

Men’s Singles - Ben Johns is skipping men’s singles this week, leaving the top seed to Federico Staksrud. Staksrud will again face a daunting lineup, likely squaring off against Hunter Johnson, Rafa Hewett, Sock, and Tyson McGuffin, if Fede is to return to the finals. One likely match of great interest is a quarter-final meeting between #4 Alshon and #5 Duong. Demonstrating how difficult the men’s singles draw is, a likely Round of 32 matchup is #15 Patriquin against #19 Tardio.

Women’s Doubles - Waters/Parenteau get the first seed as usual, and the question as always is whether anyone can give them a real test. Bright and Rachel Rohrabacher are both in the event, but not playing with each other. Bright pairs with Tina Pisnik and draws the #2 seed; Rohrabacher pairs with Jorja Johnson as the #4 seed. Another interesting pair to watch is the #6 seed Lucy Kovalova/Lea Jansen. One tough early match to watch out for is the likely Round of 16 pairing of Mary/Maggie Brascia (#10) v. Glozman/Lacy Schneemann (#8).

Women’s Singles - The top seed goes to Waters, who will be the heavy favorite to win it all. She will be tested, however, along the way as her likely opponents include: #13 Johnson, #8 Parris Todd, and the winner of the expected Brooke Buckner/Salome Devidze matchup. Parenteau is the #2 seed, and is looking to get back on the medal stand. Interesting Round of 16 likely matchups include #5 Mary Brascia v. #9 Judit Castillo, and #7 Kaitlyn Christian v. #12 Schneemann.

Because of the tremendous depth in the PPA Tour, it is always difficult to predict who will make the finals in each of the five events, but let’s give it our best shot:

Mixed Doubles: Alshon/Bright over Johnson/Johnson
Men’s Doubles: Johns brothers over Daescu/Tardio
Men’s Singles: Staksrud over Duong
Women’s Doubles: Waters/Parenteau over Bright/Pisnik
Women’s Singles: Waters over Jansen

Las Vegas should draw some big crowds this week, for a great tournament (although it may be hard to match how well Salt Lake City did last week). Come out to see the best players there are, or tune in to PickleballTV to watch it all.

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