The Rate Vegas Cup presented by Holland America has concluded, and it resulted in yet another Triple Crown in the amazing career of Anna Leigh Waters.

 

In addition, there were a number of big stories at the tournament, including the emergence of young players, and a men’s doubles final for the ages.

 

Let’s go over the highlights of a great Las Vegas event.

 

 

A Triple Crown may be rare in horse racing, but for Anna Leigh Waters, it is becoming a commonplace event. While she was not quite as dominant as she was in Virginia Beach (where she did not drop a single game), she again swept singles, women’s doubles, and mixed doubles. Waters won 34 games and lost only 3. She was again perfect in singles, winning her 10 games while allowing her opponents to average less than four points per game.

 

 

 

One of my favorite things about the Rate Vegas Cup was seeing the performance of the youngest players in the draws. On the women’s side, 17-year-old Jalina Ingram made it to the Round of 16 in women’s doubles (with veteran Lindsey Newman). Another 17-year-old, Kiora Kunimoto, won one match in women’s doubles, and in singles, defeated MLP Premier level player, Mya Bui, before losing to #2 seed Kate Fahey, 11-5, 12-10.

 

On the men’s side, 17-year-old Will MacKinnon made it to the quarterfinals with partner Luc Pham. They defeated Tyson McGuffin/Ryan Fu along the way. In the quarters, they put up a fight against top seed Ben Johns/Gabe Tardio, losing 11-7, 11-6. Another pair of youngsters, 14-year-old Tama Shimabukuro and 15-year-old Andre Mercado won a match in the men’s doubles draw, and were knocked out by eventual fourth-place finishers, Eric Oncins and Matt Wright, in three games.

 

Look for all these young players to make an impact in the coming years. I was especially impressed by Kunimoto in singles and MacKinnon in doubles. They look like future medalists in pro events.

 

 

 

In the men’s doubles draw, Gabe Tardio and Ben Johns continued their gold medal streak. But it wasn’t easy. They were pushed in both the quarterfinals and semifinals. In the finals, they were matched against old rivals Andre Daescu and Christian Alshon. The five-game final took 2.5 hours to complete, and it had it all. Daescu and Alshon won game four to push it to the fifth and deciding game. Tardio and Johns had an early lead, but Daescu and Alshon came back, and ultimately had a match point but could not convert. Tardio and Johns got the ball back and closed out the fifth game 12-10 in a match that was labeled an instant classic. Tardio and Johns continue to be the best, but the margins are thin.

 

 

 

For our grab bag segment, we will lead with noting the progress Genie Bouchard is making in singles. A year ago, she was struggling with the transition to pickleball. In Las Vegas, she showed her continued improvement on the singles side, making the final and acquitting herself well in falling to Waters 11-5, 11-5. Bouchard, like fellow former tennis pro Jack Sock, still needs to progress in pickleball-specific shots, but her tennis experience is clearly showing in her singles skills. Look for her to be a medal threat for the next few years.

 

Next, the lob was making a good appearance in Las Vegas. The lob is the most underused and underappreciated shot in pro pickleball. It should be used far more than it currently is, especially in women’s doubles and mixed doubles. Anna Leigh Waters has always been willing to mix in a few lobs, and Anna Bright has been incorporating them more in her game. Other players such as the Kawamoto sisters have been users of the lob. This past week in Las Vegas, I even saw it used in a few men’s doubles games, such as a forehand lob by Riley Newman, a shot I had never seen him use before. Let’s hope this is a trend and we finally see players use the lob as much as it should be used.

 

 

I took the opportunity in Las Vegas to keep some statistics on a couple of items that caught my eye. First, I am always looking for an answer to the very difficult question of “How do you beat Anna Leigh Waters in singles?” That is the single toughest question in pro pickleball. One thing that has caught my eye on her singles game is how much better she is from the baseline than she is at the kitchen line. That is not to say she is bad at the kitchen line, only that she is best staying back. In her semifinal win over Kaitlyn Christian, I kept stats on each player’s rally win percentage when staying back and when at the kitchen line. Christian, as you would expect, was better coming in, winning .444 of rallies when coming in, while winning .355 when staying back. Waters’ stats were pretty striking: she won .450 when coming in, and a superb .692 when staying back. Indeed, when you watch Waters play singles, you will see her hit some shots from a few feet behind the kitchen line and then retreat when 90% of players should come in behind the shot. Look in future tournaments to see if opponents try any strategy to lure Waters in to the net.

 

In women’s doubles, I have long watched the pair of Tyra Black and Parris Todd. They often play straight up, and often will stack with Black on the left. To my eyes, they are much better with Black on the left. I had kept the stats in a previous event and found they were indeed quite a bit better when stacking. I wanted to see if that stat was repeatable, so I kept track in their quarterfinal match. I found that they won 50% of ther rallies when Todd was on the left, but when Black was on the left, the winning percentage jumped to 63%. The 13% jump was in line with what I had found in prior matches and it is a very significant number. Players who can spot and implement the best practices on stacking will have more success. Watch to see in the future if Black and Todd play best strategy and keep Black on the left.

 

 

 

It is good to see the PPA teaming up with Polymarket for future events. That will bring a new level of excitement to the pro events. For my Vegas predictions, I did get right four of the five event winners, with only the difficult men’s singles event in the loss column. I also hit on the silver medalists in two events and had Federico Staksrud in the singles final, although I had him claiming silver. Getting seven of the 10 finalists right is pretty good, maybe good enough for a Polymarket profit.

 

Next up is the MLP Cup. Watch it all on Pickleballtv.

 

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