I hesitate to use hyperbole, but if the Carvana Mesa Cup presented by Proton was not the best tournament ever played, then I need someone to tell me what was the best. It just hit on every cylinder. Let’s go through the list of superlatives.

 

 

Phoenix-area weather is often great in February. But, at times there can be a little wind or a little rain, or even some cool temperatures. Not last week. It was in the low to mid 70s every day with almost no wind. Outdoor pickleball is fantastic when the weather is great. It is even better when the weather is perfect, and it was perfect all last week.

 

 

The Phoenix metro area has the most pickleball players of any big city. There are numerous large pickleball clubs with hundreds and even thousands of members. Phoenix is booming and Mesa is the largest suburb in the US. Mesa may be little known, but it has a population of over 500,000; it has more people than Atlanta, Kansas City, or Miami. And the fans turned out, big time. Championship court was full all week and was busting at the seams on Sunday. There were well over 1,000 tickets sold, with more than 200 standing room only tickets sold. Grandstand court had standing room only every day, and the showcase courts had fans lining the fences every day. Phoenix is just begging for a 2,500 or even a 5,000 seat stadium court. It will happen.

 

 

 

I get asked by pickleball players all the time what pro players are like. I always respond by saying players are almost uniformly nice and normal people, who appreciate the fans. But, I also say the pros are human and therefore some spicy things sometimes happen. It was all true in Mesa. Player interaction with fans is frequent in Mesa. But, just watch the patience of an Anna Leigh Waters, finishing off a bronze medal match that not too many people cared about, yet there she was after the match, agreeing to every autograph request or selfie pic. If there is a better person on the PPA tour than Waters, I have not met them. At the same time, we had a few episodes of players snapping at intrusive cameramen, or protesting referee calls, or yapping at an opponent’s perceived wrongful line call. Nothing wrong with a little controversy, just move on.

 

 

Last but certainly not least is the play. Where to start? The play at the Carvana Mesa Cup was worthy of a 10,000 word article. Indeed, some of the matches were worthy of a lengthy article all by themselves. Here are just a few to highlight.

 

The women’s doubles final. A titanic struggle over five games between Anna Leigh Waters/Catherine Parenteau and Anna Bright/Rachel Rohrabacher. After getting drubbed in Tucson, I had my doubts that the Bright/Rohrabacher combo would ever challenge the top duo again. But they gave it their all, falling just short.

 

The men’s doubles final. For my money, this was the best of a great week. Men’s doubles is the pinnacle of the sport. Christian Alshon/Andrei Daescu survived a furious comeback by Ben Johns/Gabe Tardio. Alshon/Daescu took the first two games, lost the next two, but prevailed in the fifth game. Give me more of that matchup, please.

 

The women’s singles final. Did anyone think Brooke Buckner could take down Waters? Certainly, Buckner did, and she almost got there. Buckner won game one, could have won game two, and lost in three games.

 

The mixed doubles competition. Waters/Johns lose in the semis, a near unheard of event. But, after that epic takedown, Bright and Dekel Bar fell in a great final to the Johnson siblings, JW and Jorja.

 

The men’s singles competition. Hunter Johnson and Federico Staksrud played a 98 minute semifinal. The next day, Johnson could not quite beat the champ, Ben Johns, but came close. Can Johnson do it the next time and take over as the #1 singles player? If you want to be the champ, you have to beat the champ.

 

 

 

Every week, I try to predict the 10 finalists for Sunday and the five winners. It is a difficult task (try it yourself). This past week, I hit six of the 10 finalists, and got three gold medalists right. That is pretty good. My best pick was hitting Alshon/Daescu to win back to back, as I had them winning in Tucson too. A good week.

 

Next up is the Veolia Cape Coral Open, starting March 5. See it live, or catch the action on Pickleballtv.

 

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