DALLAS, TX - The PPA Tour moves to Tennessee this week, at the Bristol Sportsplex. It is a traditional draw, with the usual five events. Just about everyone is back in action, so the competition will be fierce. The men’s singles draw is, as usual, brutally difficult. Time to look at some interesting partnerships and try to predict some winners.

 

 

We will start with what should be the easiest one to predict. Anna Leigh Waters is back in singles action, after skipping it in Kansas City, due to a scheduling conflict. She is seeded first and has a fairly difficult draw. But, ALW seems to win no matter what the draw, so it probably doesn’t matter. Catherine Parenteau is back to the two seed and has a reasonable path to seeing ALW in the final. Lea Jansen earns the third seed, but has a very difficult draw. She is likely to face 14 seed Chao Yi Wang in the round of 16, and Judit Castillo (seeded 8) in the quarters. Salome Davidze is back and drew the 4 seed. She has a really good draw and should make it to at least the semis. For an interesting early match, catch #5 Brooke Buckner against #9 Lacy Schneemann in an expected meeting in the round of 16. Both are playing well.

 

 

 

Parenteau and Waters are, of course, seeded first and are heavy favorites as usual to win the gold. Back in action at the two seed are Rachel Rohrabacher and Anna Bright. Rohrabacher and Bright are capable of beating CP/ALW, but they have to get to the final to have that chance. Rohrabacher and Bright did get a very favorable draw and it would be an upset if they don’t make the final. The 3 seed goes to Schneemann and Jade Kawamoto. They had a good run in KC and mesh well together. A trip to the semis appears to be in the cards for them this week. One expected match to watch for is a potential quarterfinal match between #4 Jansen/Tina Pisnik and #7 Jorja Johnson/Vivian Glozman. That will be a fun one to watch.

 

 

At the top of the draw is #1 seed Waters/Ben Johns. They do not have the easiest draw. They should see #6 seed Rohrabacher/Federico Staksrud in the quarters and that will be a great match to watch. Rohrabacher/Staskrud have the firepower to go toe-to-toe with ALW/Johns. The two seed this week goes to Bright, but not to play with James Ignatowich. Instead, Bright pairs with Christian Alshon. At the three seed are Jorja and JW Johnson. They come off that tough five game loss in KC to ALW/Johns. They got bumped down to the three seed, but got rewarded with a very good draw. I expect them to at least make the semis. Catherine Parenteau continues to move on from Jack Sock, this time pairing with Andrei Daescu and they get the seven seed. CP won a bronze last week in mixed with Staskrud. She will be looking for more post-Sock success this week. Sock meanwhile pairs again with Jansen and they get the 10 seed. Sock/Jansen were knocked out in the quarters last week by CP/Staksrud; this week, they are on opposite sides of the draw so a rematch is highly unlikely.

 

 

 

JW Johnson/Dylan Frazier get the one seed in Bristol. They will be looking to get back to the top this week, and I will venture a guess they will do it. Last week’s gold medal pair of Gabe Tardio/Staksrud are back, and are seeded #5. They face a likely quarterfinal rematch with Ben and Collin Johns, the two seed. If Tardio/Staksrud and the Johns brothers win through to face each other in the quarters, that will absolutely, positively be must see pickleball. Tardio’s offense was the difference in their win last week in KC; can the Johns make the adjustments to change the outcome? Another expected quarterfinal matchup is #4 seed Hayden Patriquin/Dekel Bar v #7 Daescu/Ignatowich. That is a fantastic match, with four players who can play a great left side. I expect to see Bar and Ignatowich on the right side in this one. I don’t envy the person deciding which matches to put on center court in this tournament; the men’s doubles event alone will have match after match that well deserve center court attention. A first round match that will be entertaining to see is #9 Travis Rettenmeier/Zane Navratil v #18 Sock/Collin Shick. There will be some powerful drives hit on that court. If you are in Bristol, sit courtside for that one, you will be glad you did.

 

 

 

The top seed goes to Staksrud and he is rewarded with a very difficult draw. He gets a bye, but then for his first match, he draws the winner of #31 Noe Khlif v #36 Ignatowich. The Khlif/Ignatowich will be a great match to watch. Khlif is super fast, with great touch, while Ignatowich has as much power as anyone. Great contrast in styles. Khlif is a top 20 singles player, but he keeps getting difficult early draws, making it hard for him to move up much in ranking points. If Staskrud gets by that round of 32 match, he gets the winner of #24 Cason Campbell against #15 Rafa Hewett, no easy task. Staksrud’s “reward” if he wins is an expected quarterfinal match against #8 Jaume Martinez Vich. If you have not seen Staksrud v JMV before, then watch it this time as whenever they play, the athleticism and skill is off the charts. Another potential quarterfinal match is #4 Alshon v #5 Quang Duong. Talk about a battle of power. And the winner of that gets Staksrud, if Federico can get by that diffcult climb to get there. On the bottom half of the draw, the #2 seed is B. Johns. Johns gets rewarded with a round of 32 matchup with #25 seed Tardio. Tardio had a nice singles run last week, so that matchup will test Johns right off the bat.

 

The men’s singles draw is filled with impossibly difficult matches. Two other expected round of 16 matchups are #7 Sock v #11 Julian Arnold and #3 Tyson McGuffin v #13 Patriquin. Winning a medal at men’s singles is the toughest medal to get. Every round is filled with excellent players.

 

Bristol, Tennessee will be the place to be in the pickleball world this week. Tune in to catch all the action.

 

Follow me on Twitter/x @pickleball_jim