Andrei Daescu and Christian Alshon are expected to play several matches together on Friday as the No. 2 seeds in men’s doubles, but they went head-to-head Thursday evening to determine who would claim the final spot in the mixed doubles semifinals.

It was Daescu/Rachel Rohrabacher who triumphed over Alshon/Tyra Black, coming away with a 9-11, 11-6, 11-4 victory.

There was some doubt about whether Rohrabacher would even be able to play this week after she suffered a hamstring strain at Worlds earlier this month, but she made it through to the final four in mixed doubles.

The Tampa native applauded Daescu, who she also won a Major League Pickleball title with in 2023 as a member of the Orlando Squeeze, for a standout performance against two challenging opponents.

“Andrei really helped me. It’s easy to get down on yourself. I mean, Christian plays so big and Tyra gets everything back, so it’s easy to be a little lost, but he just pulled me back into it at times,” she told Pickleballtv’s Ireland Horvat.

The No. 4 seeds, whose only losses as a partnership in 2025 have come against Anna Leigh Waters/Ben Johns, will face No. 2 seeds Jorja Johnson/JW Johnson on Semifinal Saturday.