Christian Alshon and Andrei Daescu have been long-time partners, but recently switched sides, with Alshon taking over the dominant left side. They rolled out the new strategy in North Carolina, resulting in a silver medal with a close four-game loss in the final to top seed Gabe Tardio and Ben Johns. They continued the new strategy in Arizona, and it resulted in a gold medal after an epic struggle in the final against upstart #15 seed Yuta Funemizu and Nico Acevedo.

 

We have seen partnerships switch sides before, most notably with Hayden Patriquin going over to the left side and Federico Staksrud going to the right. Why the switch for Alshon and Daescu? Let’s take a close look, and explain the reason for the change.

 

When looking at Alshon and Daescu, we are talking about two of the best in the game. Similarly to Patriquin and Staksrud, these are not just top 10 players, but players in the conversation of who is just behind Ben Johns as the best in the world. All of these players have the talent and skills to play either side.

 

With Alshon and Daescu, we have two players at somewhat different spots in their careers. Alshon is 26; Daescu is 38. Alshon is on the rise, and certainly is aiming to try to be #1 in the world. Daescu has been top five for a long time, but is at his peak, if not potentially starting to decline due to age. Every player at somewhat different points hits the wall and gets to an age where they stop improving. Daescu may be at that point. It is not to say he is not a great player, and indeed he is still a top 5-6 player. But, unlike Alshon, Daescu is not really a threat any more to take over the #1 spot.

 

 

Over the course of the last year, Alshon has at times been the second best player in the sport. He has added more aggression to his game, most notably forehand speedups. In the 2025-26 PPA season, he played right side with Daescu, but unlike the prior year, he played a “new style” game, emphasizing aggression from the right side. He moved closer to the center line, in order to be able to play more balls off the bounce, so that he could execute right-side forehand speedups.

 

During the 2026 MLP season, Alshon was able to play left side for Brooklyn, with Riley Newman playing right side. They were very successful, with a 22-6 record. In mixed doubles, Alshon found a steady partner in his Brooklyn teammate Rachel Rohrabacher. Alshon and Rohrabacher went 20-6 in MLP, and they have carried that partnership over to the 2026-27 PPA season. Alshon clearly enjoyed the left side in both events during the MLP season. His length and new aggressive style fit well on the left side.

 

This all brings us to the 2026-27 PPA season and Alshon’s continuing partnership with Daescu. The switch was undoubtedly a result of Alshon going to Daescu and saying “I’m happy to play the season with you, but we need to switch sides.” It was the same conversation Patriquin had the year before with Staksrud; “I am the younger, rising, aggressive player, and I want and need to play the dominant left side.”

 

What does it mean for the Alshon/Daescu partnership? Will it lead to more wins, more gold medals? That is a tougher question. Alshon’s game is well-suited to be a “new style” aggressive right side player, in the mold of Tardio. Daescu, conversely, has a style well suited for steady left side play. Daescu is a very reliable dinker, and he uses his length to aggressively volley on balls that many players would not be able to reach as easily. On the right, Daescu is limited, as he does not speed up well off the bounce. Thus, on the right, Daescu is fairly passive and is not the offensive threat that Alshon is on the right.

 

 

Alshon on the left adds some athleticism that the older Daescu lacks. But they have similar left side games, based mainly on reach and winning hands battles. Neither Alshon nor Daescu employ two-hand backhands very much. Neither has an aggressive backhand roll dink, and thus making Alshon and Daescu play off the bounce on the backhand side is not threatening to the opponents.

 

All in all, I do not think the switch of Alshon to the left with Daescu on the right will make much difference to their results. They are still a top three team. But, I do not see them as a threat to overtake Tardio and Johns. At this point, the partnership is losing Alshon’s offense on the right, while not gaining anything significant on the left due to Alshon and Daescu having similar left side styles. Expect plenty of medals, but results little different from last year.

 

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