The Veolia Bristol Open is in the books, and the top seeds dominated many of the events. Anna Leigh Waters sat out singles and had to settle for a double gold instead of her usual Triple Crown. Ben Johns joined her in the double gold winners circle. Men’s singles was, as usual, the glaring exception with upsets galore sprinkling the draw.

 

 

If you want to see domination, look no further than the women’s doubles draw. Top seed Anna Leigh Waters and Anna Bright completely destroyed their competition. They did not lose a single game and lost only 22 points in 11 games. In the final, they defeated second seed Rachel Rohrabacher/Jorja Johnson 11-6, 11-3, 11-1. That game one score was the only game all week that an opponent scored over four points in a single game against Waters and Bright. When the partnership of Waters and Bright was announced, I quickly predicted they would win every gold medal the rest of the year. There was some skepticism initially about that prediction. Now, after seeing them in action, it looks not only like they will win every gold, but also that they will not lose a single game all year.

 

 

We were all treated to an epic mixed doubles final between #1 Anna Leigh Waters/Ben Johns vs. #2 Jorja and JW Johnson. These teams have faced off in several mixed doubles finals in 2025, and the final at the Veolia Bristol Open was another classic. The match seesawed back and forth. Waters/Johns won game one easily 11-4, and it looked initially like it might be a quick final. But the Johnsons took game two by the same easy score of 11-4. Game three went back to Waters/Johns 11-4 and again it looked like adjustments were made and the top seed would cruise. But the Johnsons again fought back, winning game four 11-7. In game five, it looked like the Johnsons ran out of gas and Waters/Johns won 11-3 to take the title. Both teams were dominant leading up to the final, and we can expect to see a repeat of this matchup many times to come in 2025 and beyond.

 

 

 

If you love upsets, men’s singles is your favorite event. Every week, the only thing you can count on is that many different players will make deep runs. This week, 16-year-old John Lucian Goins broke through to win his first title. He had made some deep runs before, and this time he made it all the way to gold as a #19 seed. In the final, Goins defeated #15 seed Gabe Joseph 13-11, 9-11, 11-2. The draw was filled with upsets, with only three of the top eight seeds making it to the quarterfinals. Ben Johns lost in the Round of 32 and Federico Staksrud lost in the Round of 16. Predicting men’s singles is about as easy as predicting the lottery numbers. It makes every men’s singles event and every match exciting.

 

 

 

With a victory at the Veolia Bristol Open, the top seeded team of Ben Johns and Gabe Tardio made it two golds in a row. The recently formed partnership seems to be hitting its stride. Ben Johns is more energized and Tardio is playing his best pickleball ever. A discussion had begun early in 2025 if other players were catching up to Johns as the best player. Now, those discussions have simmered down, with the only other person playing at Johns’ level being Tardio. The men’s doubles draw is always deep, so no team is ever unbeatable or even close to unbeatable. But, Johns/Tardio look very tough to beat right now. An unappreciated part of Johns’ game is that he never chokes. He is the only player who consistently plays to their best ability under all pressure situations. Every other player, at times, is affected by pressure and will, at times, make uncharacteristic mistakes due to the pressure. Not Ben Johns.

 

 

Credit must also go to the bronze winners in the men’s doubles event, Jay Devilliers and Riley Newman. They were the only team to take a game off Johns/Tardio, losing in the semifinals 8-11, 11-6, 11-7. Devilliers and Newman are set to play again with each other in the upcoming Walgreens Open at the Las Vegas Strip. It will be interesting to see if they can make another deep run.

Next up is the first round of the MLP Playoffs starting Friday in San Diego. After that, we are back to the PPA and the Walgreens Open in Las Vegas.

 

Catch all the action for both events on Pickleballtv.

 

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