The 2024 PPA Tour is winding down. The top players of 2024 have qualified for the CIBC Finals, beginning on Wednesday. The event will be held at the beautiful San Clemente Life Time Fitness. Widely considered to be the best venue on the PPA Tour, it is a fitting place for this year-ending tournament. The best of the best have qualified to play. The players have been separated into two pools in each event. Players will compete within their pool, with two players/teams from each pool qualifying for the semifinal and final rounds.

Let’s look at each pool and try to predict who will emerge to compete for the medals.

 

 

 

ATP Pool: Federico Staksrud, Hunter Johnson, Dylan Frazier, Jaume Martinez Vich

 

This is an especially strong pool. Staksrud has been steady all year, and Johnson has been as good as anyone in singles the last two months, so I will go with those two to emerge from this pool.

 

Erne Pool: Ben Johns, Connor Garnett, Quang Duong, Tyson McGuffin

 

McGuffin appears outclassed in this pool, so I believe Johns will get one spot, with Garnett facing Duong for the other. Duong has been slightly injured lately and traveling a lot, but with some recent rest, I will give him the second spot.

 

For the medals, I see Staksrud over Duong and Johns over Johnson, with Johns defeating Staksrud in the final.

 

 

 

ATP Pool: Anna Leigh Waters, Kate Fahey, Salome Devidze, Parris Todd

 

This pool is top heavy. An argument could be made that this pool has the four players who are playing the best singles right now. Even so, hard to see any outcome other than Waters and Fahey coming out.

 

Erne Pool: Brooke Buckner, Catherine Parenteau, Kaitlyn Christian, Mary Brascia

 

This much weaker pool is harder to predict, and we could see an upset. But, I will take Buckner and Parenteau, the top two seeds.

 

In the medal round, I see Waters and Fahey both winning a semifinal, with Waters taking the crown.

 

 

 

ATP Pool: Anna Leigh Waters/Ben Johns, Catherine Parenteau/Christian Alshon, Meghan Dizon/James Ignatowich, Rachel Rohrabacher/Federico Staksrud

 

This pool should have a real battle for the second spot. Although seeded fourth, I will go with Rohrabacher/Staksrud to make it through, with Waters/Johns.

 

Erne Pool: Anna Bright/Gabe Tardio, Jorja Johnson/JW Johnson, Tina Pisnik/Dekel Bar, Jessie Irvine/Riley Newman

 

Although Irvine/Newman have played together before, they appear to be outclassed in this pool. Pisnik/Bar play well together, but I think this pool is too tough. I will go with Bright/Tardio and the Johnsons to come out. It will be very important to finish first in this pool, as the first place team will avoid Waters/Johns till the final.

 

For the medals, I see Waters/Johns taking it over the Johnson siblings. Waters/Johns have been close to unbeatable all year, so it’s hard to see them not winning again.

 

 

 

ATP Pool: Anna Leigh Waters/Catherine Parenteau, Mary Brascia/Meghan Dizon, Jorja Johnson/Lacy Schneemann, Tina Pisnik/Parris Todd

 

Waters/Parenteau are the clear class of this pool, so they will claim one spot. Although Johnson/Schneemann is not a pair who have played together through the year, I will take them in an upset to get the second spot. Jorja Johnson in particular has been playing very well.

 

Erne Pool: Anna Bright/Rachel Rohrabacher, Tyra Black/Allyce Jones, Callie Smith/Lucy Kovalova, Mari Humberg/Jessie Irvine

 

As with Pool A, it’s hard to see the top seed not emerging from this pool. For a second spot, I will give it to Black/Jones, who have developed really good chemistry together.

 

For the medal rounds, look for Waters/Parenteau to meet up with Bright/Rohrabacher again. Coin flip on who wins, but I think Bright and Rohrabacher have found the right strategy, and will defeat Waters/Parenteau again.

 

 

ATP Pool: Ben Johns/Collin Johns, JW Johnson/Gabe Tardio, Dekel Bar/Christian Alshon, Riley Newman/Jaume Martinez Vich

 

What a difficult pool! Johnson/Tardio is a new combo on tour, but they play together all the time, so they should meld well. Newman and Martinez Vich played together in MLP, so they will be fine together. Bar and Alshon are veterans who have played together before. I will pick my big upset of the week here, and predict the Johns to fail to emerge from pool play. I will go with Johnson/Tardio and Bar/Alshon to make it.

 

Erne Pool: Dylan Frazier/Pablo Tellez, Federico Staksrud/Hayden Patriquin, Tyson McGuffin/Andrei Daescu, Matt Wright/James Ignatowich

 

Super interesting pool here. Frazier/Tellez is a new pair, expected to play together in 2025. McGuffin/Daescu don’t have much history together, but certainly they have both played a ton of pro pickleball. Wright/Ignatowich is another veteran team. Any two teams could make the medal round out of this pool. I will pick some upsets and take Staksrud/Patriquin and Wright/Ignatowich.

 

For the medal rounds, I will pick Johnson/Tardio over Staksrud/Patriquin. The men’s doubles event will be something to see. It’s the one event where all eight teams could easily win it all.

 

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2024 has been a great year for the PPA Tour. The CIBC Finals are a fitting end to the year. Come on out to San Clemente, or catch all the action on Pickleballtv.

 

Follow me on Twitter/X @pickleball_jim