Another rainy Atlanta day brought semifinal action indoors again.

The day had a little of everything, with some upsets and some business as usual.

 

 

The top seeded team of Dylan Frazier/JW Johnson fell 11-6, 11-8 to #7 seeds Tyson McGuffin/Jaume Martinez Vich, in the biggest upset of the day. McGuffin/Martinez Vich used a fast style, employing a lot of pace, surprising the top seeds early. Frazier and Johnson steadied the ship some in game 2, but steady dinking and continued use of speedups allowed McGuffin/Martinez Vich to finish off the upset. They will face #2 seeds the Johns brothers in the final. Collin Johns and Ben Johns avenged a loss in Las Vegas, defeating Riley Newman/Christian Alshon 11-9, 11-2. Collin Johns used some new aggressive play, and then ended the match with some smack talk at Alshon’s expense.

 

 

 

Anna Leigh Waters just doesn’t lose a match. She also very rarely loses a game. Against Brooke Buckner in singles, Buckner got off to a 7-2 lead. But, Waters scored the next 20 straight points, winning 11-7, 11-0. Waters will face Parris Todd in the final. Todd beat Lea Jansen 13-11, 11-2. Can Todd give Waters a match on Sunday?

 

 

 

The most consistent men’s singles player all year has been Federico Staksrud. But on Saturday he made an uncharacteristically high number of errors. Connor Garnett took advantage of Staksrud’s off day, winning 11-7, 11-5. On the other side of the draw, it has been a week filled with upsets. #20 seed Hunter Johnson made his first final, defeating #11 JW Johnson, 11-3, 0-11, 11-1, in an oddly seesawing match.

 

 

 

In women’s doubles, the unstoppable duo of Anna Leigh Waters/Catherine Parenteau played what was for them a mediocre match, yet still won 11-7, 11-4 over #4 seed Callie Smith/Lucy Kovalova. The match showed that Waters/Parenteau can play well less than their best and beat (almost) anyone. Why “almost”? Because their Sunday opponents are #2 seeds Anna Bright/Rachel Rohrabacher, who defeated #8 Lacy Schneemann/Jackie Kawamoto. The only team that looks like it ever has any chance to beat Waters/Parenteau is Bright/Rohrabacher. Bright and Rohrabacher have done it before, but can they do it again?

 

Tune in Sunday to catch all the championship action on PickleballTV.

 

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