The Professional Pickleball Association (PPA) embarked on the next leg of the three-week journey that had kicked off in North Carolina the first weekend of April, moved onto Houston, and arrived in Los Angeles last weekend at the Los Cab facility in Fountain Valley for the 2024 Veolia Los Cab Open.
As Todd Boss at Forbes pointed out, despite this being the second big tournament of the weekend, with the US Open event in Florida capturing more attention, this tournament still attracted nearly 1,000 players and a formidable pro draw. However, due to scheduling constraints and the event’s comparatively meager 1,000-point status, some notable players were absent.
Women’s Pro Singles
The women’s singles circuit has had fluctuating results among the top contenders due to the absence of top players. In this competition, #1 Mary Brascia, who suffered an upset in the first round last week, managed to rebound and advance to the quarters before succumbing to #8 Kaitlyn Christen.
Former Tennis All-American from Pepperdine, #21 Christine Maddox, continues her solid progress, defeating #7 Dominique Schaefer in the 16s before also exiting in the quarters. However, #3 Lauren Stratman, who faced an early defeat to newly converted pickleball pro Genie Bouchard last week, displayed remarkable form and stormed through her draw to reach the final from the top side.
The bottom half witnessed an impressive run from newcomer #29 Layne Sleeth. Sleeth, a former NCAA tennis singles finalist in June 2023 and an All-American, recently transitioned to pickleball and was drafted by the Brooklyn Aces in the MLP Challenger division, primarily based on her potential.
She secured victories over #29 Michelle Esquivel, #4 Irina Tereschenko, and #14 Nicole Eugenio before bowing out in the quarters to #5 Brooke Buckner.
Buckner continued her impressive streak, defeating #6 Lacy Schneemann in the semis to clinch her first-ever gold medal appearance. The women’s pro final promised a first-time gold medalist, ensuring a milestone achievement regardless of the outcome.
Neither Buckner nor Stratman had previously reached a gold medal match on Sunday, and Buckner displayed the mental fortitude to emerge victorious with an 8-0 win, securing her maiden gold medal.
Men’s Pro Singles
We had the by now customary surprises in the Men’s Pro Singles category. Ben Johns, the #1 seed, faced an early defeat for the fourth time this season, courtesy of rising star Hayden “Big H” Patriquin, who triumphed 6-6 in the round of 16. Several other top seeds also stumbled early on: #6 Pablo Tellez fell to #37 Quan Do in the round of 32, #23 Roscoe Bellamy ousted #4 Tyson McGuffin in the 16s, and #48 Augustus Ge, oddly seeded, upset #7 Jay Devilliers in the 32s.
Donald Young was unable to replicate his Houston performance and bowed out in the 32s. Notably, four players with double-digit seeds progressed to the quarterfinals.
Teen sensation Patriquin’s momentum was short-lived as he succumbed to #11 Aanik Lohani in the subsequent round. Lohani, in turn, was defeated by #3 Connor Garnett in the semis, who secured his spot in the Gold medal match. Meanwhile, #2 Federico Staksrud dominated his bracket, setting up an eighth consecutive gold medal match appearance.
In a thrilling showdown, Garnett clinched his maiden PPA gold medal, defeating Staksrud in a closely contested match with a final score of (7), 9, 4. Bellamy secured the Bronze medal, marking his first-ever PPA medal.
Mixed Pro Doubles
In Waters’ absence, Ben Johns partnered with Anna Bright (ranked #2 in Mixed Pro doubles for the ladies). Her usual partner, James Ignatowich, is still recovering from a shoulder injury. The pair sauntered through the top half of the draw, winning 3,2 in the semis to secure their place in the finals.
Two-time defending finalist Tina Pisnik and partner Collin Johns made the semis before falling to the #1 seeds.
In the bottom half of the pro draw, #2 Vivienne David and Thomas Wilson carried on their pre-tournament form, beating #3 Megan Dizon and Tyson McGuffin 9,2 to make the final.
The final was like a chess match, with both teams trying various strategies to outfox the other. However, David and Wilson were able to keep their game at a consistently high level, and that won them the battle in four games: 11, 8,(8),3.
Tina Pisnik and Collin Johns defeated Tyson McGuffin and Megan Dizon 6, 5 in the bronze medal match. This was Pisnik’s third straight podium in Mixed Pro doubles and was Collin Johns’ first-ever PPA medal without his brother.
Women’s Pro Doubles
During ALW and Parenteau’s month-long hiatus from touring, #1-ranked Anna Bright and Rachel Rohrabacher have shown their dominance.
They sailed through the early rounds of the event, securing commanding victories over #5 Tina Pisnik and Jessie Irvine in the quarters. The duo then overpowered the #8 Brascia sisters with a 9-4 triumph in the semis, earning them a place in the gold medal match for the fourth time in the last five events.
Meanwhile, #6 Lacy Schneemann and Vivian Glozman made an impressive run in the bottom half of the draw. They kicked off their campaign with a notable win over #10 Irina Tereschenko and Christine Maddox in the round of 16. They kept their momentum going with a hard-fought 11-8 victory over #3 Lea Jansen and Lucy Kovalova in the quarters. The pair then clinched a tight two-game victory, 13-11, 12-10, against #2 Meghan Dixon and Etta Wright to set up an intriguing final clash.
In the end, Bright and Rohrbacher were just too good to allow Schneemann and Glozman to achieve the colossal feat of achieving victories over the top three seeds in the same event. Ana and Rachel dominated the match and took a resounding 5-5-5 win.
This victory marks Bright and Rohrabacher’s fourth gold medal in the last five events, and Bright is set to ascend to the #1 position in Season-to-Date Women’s Pro doubles rankings on tour.
Men’s Pro Doubles
Number nine seeds Travis Rettenmaier and Zane Navratil provided a couple of shocks as they outplayed #8, Hayden Patriquin and Callan Dawson in the round of 16.
Following their strong performance the previous week, they then delivered a compelling performance against #2 seeds Matt Wright and Thomas Wilson in the quarters, securing victory in an 11-8 third-game showdown.
Despite eventually falling short against #4 Tyson McGuffin and Jaume Martínez Vich in the semis, they won, marking Rettenmaier’s first Men’s Pro medal on tour in nearly a year.
Meanwhile, #7 Connor Garnett, paired with lefty Augustus Ge, caused a stir by upsetting #3 seeds Federico Staksrud and Pablo Tellez 7-3 in the quarters, earning a spot in the semis. Although Garnett and Ge claimed the first game against the #1 seeded Johns brothers, they fell away as the game went on and ultimately bowed out.
The stage was set for an enthralling Sunday final between #1 Johns and Johns and #4 McGuffin and Vich. The fourth seeds unleashed a barrage of third-shot drives, shake-and-bakes, and speed-ups off the bounce and succeeded in rattling the Johns brothers. However, as in the semis, the Johns’ didn’t panic and seized the momentum as the match went into the fifth game. It should be noted that Vich’s performance, predominantly on the left side, was exceptional.
Epilog
Ben Johns’ early loss in the men’s singles, combined with #2 Staksrud’s run to the final, should conspire to give Staksrud the #1 overall ranking on tour, knocking Johns out of the #1 spot for the first time since the professional pickleball began.
The senior competitions witnessed notable achievements, with Morgan Shephard clinching victory in Men’s Senior Open Singles and Craig Riley and Mark Hamilton emerging victorious in Men’s Senior Open Doubles.
The PPA’s journey continues, with the upcoming 2024 Red Rock Open in St. George, Utah, marking the final stop for April.
Click here for the PickleballBrackets.com home page for the event, where you can get tournament details, draw sheets, and results.
