CJ Klinger and Mari Humberg celebrate their victory at the Select Medical Orange County Cup presented by Reign Storm.
CJ Klinger and Mari Humberg celebrate their victory at the Select Medical Orange County Cup presented by Reign Storm. PPA Tour

Humberg, Klinger stun Tuionetoa, Alshon in straight games, then advance in gender doubles

Friday was a good day for Mari Humberg and CJ Klinger.

They first joined forces as the No. 28 seeds in mixed doubles and took down No. 3 seeds Etta Tuionetoa/Christian Alshon by an 11-8, 11-2 score line.

One point of contention in that contest was the enforcement of the service rules. Alshon thought that Klinger’s contact point on his serve was too high and expressed his frustration to the referees during the second game.

Those appeals didn’t help, though, as Humberg/Klinger cruised to the day’s biggest upset in mixed doubles.

 

Shortly after that, Humberg took the court in women’s doubles, where she and Meghan Dizon ended the run of No. 37 seeds Yufei Long/Jamie Wei with an 11-6, 11-3 victory.

Not to be outdone, Klinger then partnered up with JW Johnson to defeat No. 8 seeds Tyson McGuffin/Noe Khlif 11-5, 8-11, 11-5 in one of Friday’s most entertaining matches on Humana Championship Court.

After their triumphant quarterfinal performances, both Humberg and Dizon are gearing up for a busy Semifinal Saturday in Southern California.

First, they will face Jorja Johnson/JW Johnson in mixed doubles; then Humberg/Dizon will take on Anna Leigh Waters/Anna Bright, while Klinger/Johnson will play Federico Staksrud/Hayden Patriquin.