
Staksrud stops Alhouni’s run, cruises to Championship Sunday
Federico Staksrud became the first player to book his spot in a singles final in the Sunshine State with an 11-5, 11-4 victory over No. 10 seed Mohaned Alhouni.
Alhouni was making his first career appearance in a PPA semifinal after impressive victories over Anderson Scarpa, Aanik Lohani, and Adam Harvey on Thursday, but Staksrud was able to dictate a majority of points against the lengthy lefty.
One of the keys for the top seed was varying his shot placement when trying to pass Alhouni at the kitchen line.
“[Mo] likes his forehand, and he cheats a lot by moving to his backhand side so that he can hit more forehands,” Staksrud explained. “I knew I wanted to go to his backhand, but I had to keep him honest and hit some shots to his forehand side as well.”
This semifinal win, of course, guarantees that the Argentinian will leave Central Florida with either a gold or silver medal in singles. That’s significant because it extends his streak of earning at least one medal in every PPA tournament of 2024.
My favorite @PPAtour stat from 2024: Federico Staksrud not only played in all 23 tournaments, he won at least one medal in all 23 tournaments! He -never- went home empty-handed! @federicostak pic.twitter.com/gDWzPMz9Gn
— Jim Ramsey (@JimRamsey247) December 12, 2024
Staksrud will face either No. 2 seed Michael Loyd or No. 21 seed Zane Ford in the final.
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