Day 3 of a progressive draw tournament means it was Round of 16 day on Thursday. When friends ask me about attending a pro pickleball tournament, they usually ask about attending Sunday. I surprise them with my answer, which is “Sunday is great, but Thursday and Friday are better.”

 

Thursday is Round of 16 and Friday is quarterfinals. It means there are lots of good matches. So many good matches that they cannot all be on Championship Court or Grandstand Court. There are so many good matches it is impossible to see them all.

 

Thursday this week at the Carvana Mesa Cup presented by Proton was no exception. What a day! Perfect weather, big crowds, and too many matches to be able to see them all.

 

At one point, I was watching a video monitor to follow Jack Sock taking on Quang Duong on Championship Court, while trying at the same time to watch Kate Fahey play Jorja Johnson on Grandstand Court. I think I strained my neck from swiveling my head so many times!

 

But I want to write this time about just one match, to demonstrate why there is nothing to match seeing the PPA pros live in action at a tournament. The last match of the day on Thursday was a men’s doubles match on Grandstand Court. It was Riley Newman and James Ignatowich v Augie Ge and Jaume Martinez Vich. The match started after 6pm. The lights were on and the sun was setting in the desert. A warm day was now rapidly cooling off. I was glad I had brought my hoodie. The crowd, which had been massive all day, had thinned out some. But, for those hardy souls who remained to see the end of a nearly 10 hour day of pickleball, they were in for a treat.

 

 

Game one was a back and forth affair. Neither team could gain much of an advantage. Newman uncharacteristically was on the right side. Ge and Martinez Vich were testing Ignatowich repeatedly, making him dink a lot and then testing him with speedups, often to his forehand.

 

I was doing the broadcast for Pickleballtv with my partner Michelle Esquivel. Michelle made a great observation that Newman should switch to the left, to combat the Ge/Martinez Vich strategy. Sure enough, one point later, Newman and Ignatowich made the switch; what a call! The switch seemed to work and Newman and Ignatowich won a game one thriller 14-12.

 

But, Ignatowich was struggling with a back injury, in obvious pain. Game two did not go well for Newman and Ignatowich, with James ultimately needing a 15-minute medical timeout at one point. Ge and Martinez Vich, like sharks smelling blood in the water, focused even more on Ignatowich. Newman tried to cover more court, but that only led to opportunities to attack behind him. Ge and Martinez Vich closed out game two, winning 11 of the last 13 points and took game two 11-4.

 

Going into game three, I don’t think too many people were looking to wager on a Newman/Ignatowich win. Ge and Martinez Vich were smiling and pacing with energy, eager to start the stanza. Newman looked down and de-energized. Ignatowich continued to rub has lower back, a pained expression on his face. All the momentum looked to be with Ge and Martinez Vich.

 

In game three, Newman and Ignatowich opened a small lead. Word had obviously gotten around that an epic match was occurring on Grandstand Court. Numerous other pros congregated in the stands to watch. The time was now passing 7pm and these other pros could have been at dinner or resting up for Friday but no, they were in the stands to watch a thriller.

 

Ge and Martinez Vich were in no way done. The came back to take a lead; then Newman and Ignatowich fought back. Every time the crowd thought Ignatowich was done for, he would pull out one more counter, one more great shot. Newman fed off Ignatowich’s guttiness, increasing his energy level.  The crowd roared at every great shot, every great point, and there was a lot to roar about.

 

Martinez Vich missed a key serve return, allowing Newman and Ignatowich to get to a match point on serve. But Newman and Ignatowich could not close it out. Ge and Martinez Vich started to come back, closing to 10-8. Serve back to Newman and Ignatowich. But they could not convert! How could Ignatowich, in obvious pain, keep going? Somehow they get the serve back one more time. It felt like now or never. Ge and Martinez Vich just knew if they could get one more chance to serve, they could take this thing. But, it was not to be. Fittingly, it was a great backhand counter by Ignatowich that was the play of the day, winning the final point, and sending Riley and James into the quarterfinals.

 

 

The crowd loved it. The other pros loved it. All of us who were lucky enough to be there until well after 7pm on a chilly desert evening loved it. Martinez Vich, who played so well and with such energy, could only kick at the ball after his last shot hit the net. Ge was his usual calm and professional self, consoling his partner. Newman was jumping with energy from the win. But over to the side, an exhausted and thoroughly drained James Ignatowich could only breathe, bent over at the waist, dealing with the pain he had gutted through all match. It was a win, an incredible win, but you could just see him thinking, “Will I be able to play tomorrow?”

 

After all that, it is on to Friday and quarterfinal day. Can it match up to Thursday? There is one way to find out, come on out to Mesa to see, or watch on Pickleballtv.

 

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