
Top seeds Brascia, Jansen impress to set finals clash
ST. GEORGE, UT - Mary Brascia and Lea Jansen showed why they were designated as the top two seeds in women’s singles coming into Utah.
They both cruised through the draw without dropping a single game to make it to Championship Sunday.
Top-seeded Brascia faced off against Kaitlyn Christian in the semifinals in a rematch of last week’s quarterfinal in California.
Brascia lost that previous meeting but earned some revenge in Thursday’s matchup.
She came out strong and took Game 1, 11-4.
Christian did respond to snag a 7-2 lead in Game 2, but Brascia was able to right the ship thanks, in part, to an aggressive running serve that forced a considerable number of return errors from her opponent.
“Everyone is so good, so anything you can do to level up your own game is important,” Brascia shared. “I’ve been working on more of a running serve, and I like it, so I’m gonna keep trying to do it in matches.”
The No. 1 seed scored nine of the match’s final ten points to secure the victory.
In the second semifinal, Jansen routed No. 5 seed Jorja Johnson to cap a day where her level seemed to be as high as we have seen it in her career.
Jansen’s high level didn’t come as a surprise to her, however.
“From the first ball in my warmup, I know whether it’s gonna be a good day or not, and I hit my first ball this morning and knew it was gonna be a good day,” she explained. “Pickleball is a long year, and today was just my day.”
Sunday will be the second meeting of 2024 between Brascia and Jansen, and if their last match from the Desert Ridge Open is any indication, pickleball fans everywhere are in for a treat.
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