The PPA is back this weekend with the largest tournament in PPA history! The PPA Acrytech Atlanta Open will see over 1,400 amateur and pro-level pickleball players compete at the Life Time facility in Peachtree Corners.
As the biggest tournament in PPA history, you can expect to see all of the PPA’s biggest stars come out to play, including the Johns brothers and Anna Leigh Waters, making the main draw brackets some of the most interesting ones we’ve seen all year!
Men’s Singles
The men’s main draw is massive this time around with over 90 players qualifying. The main draw looks pretty interesting because of it, and we’re hoping to see some standout performances from qualifiers.
As is to be expected, Ben Johns leads the pack on one side of the bracket, though he’s got some tough competition. Our favorites include JW Johnson, Jay Devilliers, and the college star, Collin Shick. Shick first made waves in the PPA at the Florida Open, where he made it all the way from the qualifying bracket to the finals match versus Ben Johns.
On the other side, we’ve got our North Carolina Open champion, Federico Staksrud, who we’d like to see face off against Tyson McGuffin in the semifinals. McGuffin and Staksrud had an incredible finals match in North Carolina, expect McGuffin to come back with a vengeance.
Women’s Singles
At the most recent PPA tournament, the North Carolina Open, Anna Leigh Waters earned her fourth Triple Crown of the year, completely dominating in all three events. We all expect to see her on Championship Sunday, but who else might stand in her way?
On Waters’ side of the bracket, her top contenders will likely be Judit Castillo and Catherine Parenteau. Castillo recently won her first gold medal at the APP Sunmed Classic, and was also just drafted into the MLP by D.C. Pickleball Team; needless to say, she’s one of pickleball’s biggest rising stars.
On the other side of the bracket, we really want to see a Lea Jansen and Salome Devidze rematch in the semifinals. The two have gained some notoriety as rivals after some heated moments during their semifinal match at the Red Rock Open. Expect fireworks, or just plain fire, if these two meet up this weekend.
Mixed Doubles
Mixed Doubles is a mixed bag, though it’s pretty clear who we expect to see in the finals. Ben Johns and Anna Leigh Waters are paired up again after Ben’s absence from the North Carolina Open, and the two have been dominant when paired up together this year.
Watch out for the return of Thomas Wilson, who has been out with a wrist injury for several tournaments. He’ll be partnering back up with Vivienne David in mixed doubles. If he’s fully recovered and healthier than ever, Wilson will be a big threat in this bracket.
Men’s Doubles
In men’s doubles, we’ve got several standout pairs that could make their way to the finals. We’ve got the return of Ben and Collin Johns who we haven’t seen since last month’s Newport Beach Shootout, where they lost early on to Ben Newell and Phillip Locklear. Expect to see the brothers back at the top of their game.
We’ve also got the current defending champions, Riley Newman and Matt Wright. The well-known duo took down JW Johnson and Dylan Frazier in the finals in North Carolina, it’ll be interesting to see if they can pull off another win together, as the two haven’t been as consistent as we’ve seen in previous years.
Our final team, and possibly favorite, is that of Jay Devilliers and Andrei Daescu. Daescu’s unstoppable in the APP right now, having earned six gold medals in the last three tournaments. Devilliers has been solid this year, particularly in the MLP where he’s been fundamental to the St. Louis Shock in men’s doubles alongside Erik Lange.
Women’s Doubles
When it comes to women’s doubles, Anna Leigh Waters is undefeated in every event she’s participated in. This time around she’ll be partnering back up with Anna Bright; last time they were together was back at PPA Austin, where they took home the gold.
We’ve also got a couple exciting new pairings. Parris Todd and Catherine Parenteau are partnering up for the first time, and same goes for Jessie Irvine and Lea Jansen.
Todd has been incredible in the APP this year and recently earned a Triple Crown at the US Open. It’s likely she’s going to make quite the showing in the PPA, especially when partnered with Catherine Parenteau, one of the winningest players in women’s doubles.
