In October of 2025, Darling Tennis Center played host to one of the most memorable matches in the history of the PPA Tour.

That contest was the men’s doubles final between Ben Johns/Gabe Tardio and Christian Alshon/Andrei Daescu.

In front of a national audience on ESPN, the four competitors delivered an instant classic that ended with Johns/Tardio winning by a 12-10, 9-11, 11-7, 4-11, 12-10 score line in what was, at the time, the longest match in PPA Tour history at two hours and twenty-eight minutes long.

Nearly one year later, at this week’s Rate Las Vegas Open presented by JOOLA, those same players will share the court once again on Carvana Championship Sunday at the same venue.

There are some differences—Alshon and Daescu have switched sides since rekindling their partnership for the 2026-2027 season, and Sunday’s match will be best two out of three games instead of three out of five—but the memory of what these four left on the court one year ago will follow them as they battle for gold once more in Las Vegas.

The men’s doubles final will be the third title match of the day. Catch the action on Pickleballtv.