The Select Medical Orange County Cup was a huge success in every way.

The weather was perfect, the crowds were big, the Life Time Fitness venue was awesome and, oh yeah, the pickleball was pretty good too. We had battles for dominance on the men’s side, the big rematch in women’s doubles, and we had big performances by names both new and old. Lots to discuss!

 

 

Men’s singles remains the most difficult event to predict. More upsets happen in men’s singles than any other event, and longshot seeds do better at this event than any other. For new players to the PPA Tour, singles is typically the way they first make a name for themselves. This week provided a perfect example.

 

The #61 seed was newcomer Rafael Lenhard. He had only played one prior PPA tournament, and he was defintely a “no name” player entering the tournament. Lenhard, befitting his lowly #61 seed, was matched in the first round against Ben Johns. Lenhard showed no fear, walking away with the biggest upset of the week 11-6, 14-12. But, he wasn’t done. Lenhard then took down Zane Navratil and Noe Khlif, both experienced and tough singles veterans. Lenhard’s run ended in the quarters, where he fell to Christian Alshon, but what a week it was for Lenhard! Lenhard showed real skills. These wins were no fluke. He flashed both power and touch, indicating he has the game for both singles and doubles. New players to the PPA Tour who come over from tennis often have early success, but cannot translate it into sustained success or success in doubles. However, Lenhard’s skill set should hold up. Expect to see more success for him, both in singles and one day in doubles as he develops the nuances that make pickleball different from tennis.

 

2. A longshot makes a deep run on the women’s side

 

In women’s doubles, the #36 seed was the pair of Ting Chien Wei and Yufei Long. They are part of the UPA Trailblazers program, which seeks to elevate pickleball in Asia. With so many skilled racquet/paddle sports players in Asia, it has been only a matter of time for pro players from that region to emerge. Well, at San Clemente it was time.

 

Wei/Long had an easy Round of 64 win to start, but then met the #4 seed in the Round of 32, veterans Lacy Schneemann and Jorja Johnson. It was a super close match, but the Trailblazers pulled it out 12-10, 8-11, 11-5 to move on. They weren’t done, chalking up another win before untimely losing to Mari Humberg and Meghan Dizon in the quarters. All in all, quite a performance for the Trailblazer team, and we can expect to see more of them in the future.

 

3. "The Comeback Kid" earns his nickname

 

Connor Garnett has always been a super high effort player. No one fights harder, longer for every point. If you look up the word “grinder” in your pickleball dictionary, there is no definition there, just Garnett’s picture. The owner of “Twoey Skool” showed this week why he is the ultimate grinder. Garnett started his story with a quarterfinal matchup with Jack Sock. For reasons unknown, it is apparently required that Garnett and Sock face off in every PPA singles event, and Orange County was no exception. In game one, Sock jumped out to a 9-2 lead. Garnett then grinded away, winning the next nine points for an 11-9 game one win. Not satisfied with that, Garnett decided to spot Sock 10 points in game two. Garnett rattled off the next 12 points in a row for a 12-10 win! Quite literally, "The Comeback Kid" performed the ultimate comeback, as you can’t come back any further than that.

 

 

But, Garnett was not done. In the Bronze medal match, Garnett lost game one to Christian Alshon. Naturally, being down meant nothing. He won game two 11-4. However, Garnett cannot be "The Comeback Kid" if he is even or ahead, so he decided to spot Alshon six points in game three. Down 6-0, Garnett got to work and proceeded to slowly grind his way back. Ultimately, Garnett prevailed 11-9, cementing his "Comeback Kid" status for the week. Just imagine how well he could do if he could just win a few early points!

 

 

The #1 seed in women’s doubles was once again Anna Leigh Waters and Anna Bright, and the #2 seed was once again Catherine Parenteau and Rachel Rohrabacher. Waters and Bright prevailed in the first “breakup final” in Atlanta, and everyone was anticipating a rematch in San Clemente. Waters and Bright rolled into the final easily, not dropping a game and holding opponents to an average of 3.6 points per game.  Parenteau and Rohrabacher had the tougher draw, with several potentially tough opponents on their side of the draw. But Parenteau and Rohrabacher cruised, matching Waters and Bright by not dropping any games and holding opponents to an average of four points a game. In the semifinal, it was expected that Tyra Black and Parris Todd would put up a tough fight, but Parenteau and Rohrabacher prevailed in a reasonably comfortable 11-6, 11-7 win.

 

 

That led up to the anticipated finals rematch. But, San Clemente turned out to be a repeat of Atlanta, with Waters and Bright winning all three games, 11-2, 11-8, 11-8. For now, it appears Parenteau and Rohrabacher have separated themselves from the field, but equally Waters and Bright have separated themselves from Parenteau and Rohrabacher. I predicted when the Waters and Bright partnership was announced that they would win every gold medal the rest of 2025. I see no reason to change that prediction now.

 

 

The top team or player is set in mixed doubles and both of the women’s events, but not so on the men’s side. It is especially unsettled in singles. Claims for the top spot in men’s singles have been made this year by several players. This past week, some clarity might have been provided as the Orange County final matched Federico Staksrud against Hunter Johnson, both of whom claim the crown as the best singles player in the world. There are no easy draws in men’s singles, but Johnson took advantage of having a slightly easier draw to get to the final, where he faced Staksrud. The crowd expected a tough and close match, but Johnson dominated from the get go, winning 11-5, 11-2.

 

 

Last December, I had predicted Johnson would end 2025 as the #1 singles player in the world. He certainly staked a big claim to it in San Clemente. But there is half a year still to go. Expect Staksrud, as well as Ben Johns and others, to fight for the status as the best singles player in the world.

 

 

Men’s doubles is not quite as chaotic as men’s sinlges. Men’s doubles is dominated by the Big Four: Ben Johns/Gabe Tardio (“The Counter Kings”), Christian Alshon/Andrei Daescu (“Power Forward”), CJ Klinger/JW Johnson (“CJW”), and Federico Staskrud/Hayden Patriquin (“Fedquin”). At this point, it is hard to see any doubles team breaking the Big Four’s lock on gold medals.

 

In San Clemente, "The Counter Kings" had the easiest time, not dropping a game on the way to the semifinals. As befits their nickname, Tardio/Johns present teams with a very tough choice on how to play them. They are super steady in the dink game and are content to dink all day. Teams are forced to speed up against them, but they have the best counters in the game. Teams are faced with the impossible choice of losing by dinking or losing by speeding up and getting countered.

 

 

"Power Forward" had the toughest road to the semis. In the Round of 16, Alshon/Daescu faced Eric Oncins/DJ Young. Young was arguably the best player on the court that day, showing why he is the most underrated player in the game. Oncins played well too, but "Power Forward" ultimately pulled away from a 5-5 tie in game three to win the match. Alshon/Daescu were again taken to three games in the quarters by Travis Rettenmaier/Connor Garnett. In the semifinal, "The Counter Kings" lived up to their name, taking down "Power Forward" 11-8, 11-6.

 

On the other side of the draw, "CJW" had some struggles, dropping a game in both the Round of 16 and quarters. "Fedquin" got a scare in the Round of 16 from Jay Devilliers/Grayson Goldin, squeaking out an 11-9 win in game three. Staksrud/Patriquin then rolled into the semifinal and defeated "CJW" 11-6, 12-10.

 

In the final, it was an epic struggle. Tardio/Johns lost game one, dominated the next two, but "Fedquin" won game four easily, 11-4. Game five was up for grabs. The key point was at 3-1-2, with "Fedquin" serving. Tardio hit an Erne winner, but was called for a foot fault. The call was overturned (correctly) on replay. The result was thus "The Counter Kings" serving at 1-3-1, instead of "Fedquin" serving at 4-1-2. The call appeared to throw Patriquin off his game. He made a couple of unforced errors and combined with a Tardio winner, it was suddenly 6-3 Tardio/Johns in control. Timeouts could not change the momentum and Tardio/Johns rolled to an 11-3 game five win and the title.

 

 

Obviously, any of the Big Four tandems can lose a particular match. They have all been pushed by lower seeds. But, it does look like they will dominate for quite some time and repeats of all four making the semifinals will surprise no one. Who will be the team or teams to break through?

 

San Clemente is always a favorite stop of mine. Same for the pros, the fans, and everyone else involved. The weather is great, the venue is awesome, and it leads to great, inspired play from the players. I know I cannot wait to be back. But for now, the PPA Tour is on to the Veolia Bristol Open, beginning August 6. Catch all the action live on Pickleballtv.

 

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