Ben Johns and Anna Leigh Waters secured their nineteenth career triple crowns at the 2023 Guaranteed Rate PPA Championships, hosted at the Darling Tennis Center in Las Vegas. The two triple-crowned just a couple of tournaments ago in Kansas City, and they’re back at it again, proving they’re still on top as they prepare for the PPA Finals next month.
Waters and Johns continue to be the leading pro players in men’s, women’s, and mixed events, but there were some other stellar performances from last weekend that are worth highlighting! Let’s jump right in.
Mixed Doubles
Right off the bat, we should address the fact that Waters and Johns earned their win in mixed due to Anna Bright and James Ignatowich having to forfeit by injury. Ignatowich sustained an ankle injury that unfortunately forced him to withdraw from the tournament entirely.
This was an incredibly unfortunate turn of events, as Bright and Ignatowich were undefeated going into the finals, especially after an incredible win against Christian Alshon and Hurricane Tyra Black (11-5, 11-4). Rest up Big Papa Jimmy; hope to see you back on the courts ASAP!
Men’s Singles
One of the most exciting storylines was that of 23-seed Aanik Lohani taking home a silver medal in men’s singles after his first Championship Sunday appearance! Not only did Aanik manage to make it to the finals, but he did so by taking down some of the top men’s singles players, including JW Johnson and Hayden Patriquin.
In the finals, Lohani held his ground but couldn’t defeat the number one men’s player in the world, Ben Johns. Johns defeated Lohani in a quick 2-game match (11-3, 11-7) and accredited some of the victory to his brother, Collin Johns, who helped him research Lohani going into the match.
“Collin helped me with some pattern stuff. I needed to do a little research before I played him.”
Ben Johns on his win against Aanik Lohani
Women’s Singles
Anna Leigh stays on top with yet another incredible weekend in singles, taking down the 2-seed Catherine Parenteau in a 3-game match (11-4, 7-11, 11-4). While we saw the standard ALW vs. CP matchup in the finals, we also have to shout out the bronze medalist, Dominique Schaefer, who had her strongest tournament to date.
Despite losing to ALW in the semis, Schaefer dominated her quarter of the brackets, taking down the likes of Jessie Irvine and Irina Tereschenko. We would’ve loved to have seen a Schaefer vs. Hurricane Tyra Black matchup, but Black withdrew from singles ahead of the tournament.
Instead, we saw Schaefer take on 28-seed Heather Smith, where Schaefer almost had a double-pickle win (11-1, 11-0). We’re excited to keep our eyes out for Schaefer as she becomes more established in the singles event.
Men’s Doubles
Again, Ignatowich’s withdrawal from the competition put a damper on men’s doubles, as he and Matt Wright were putting on an absolute clinic going into the semifinals. The two were undefeated before Ignatowich got injured, leading us to believe they had a shot at taking down the Johns brothers in the semis, which would’ve completely altered the vibe of the finals.
Instead, the Johns brothers took on their old rivals, 2-seeds JW Johnson and Dylan Frazier. This was arguably the most exciting match in the tournament, as the two teams went back and forth all match long, pushing it to five games.
In the end, Collin and Ben prevailed after an incredible comeback after going down the first two games(7-11, 3-11, 11-7, 11-8, 11-6). The three-game comeback secured the Johns brothers their 11th gold medal of the season.
“This has been a great year for us. We’ve been fortunate, but it gives you that much more confidence when you’re down two games to a team that’s playing. You know you can come back and do it.”
Collin Johns on their comeback victory
Women’s Doubles
The Parenteau/Waters duo has done it yet again! They have got their winning streak back in order, making this their third title in a row and eighth of the year.
In the championship match, they faced the 3-seeded team of Lucy Kovalova and Callie Smith, who also played in incredible form all tournament long. They only dropped one game all tournament and even 2-0’d the 7-seed team of Irina Tereschenko and Jade Kawamoto, who we thought might make it to the finals after going undefeated leading into the semis.
In the finals, Kovalova and Smith even won game one, but Partenteau and Waters made quick adjustments going into game two, which allowed them to get a hold of the match and win the next three games in a row (7-11, 11-6, 11-8, 11-5). We hope to see a rematch of these teams in Daytona ahead of the Finals, as we believe these are the two teams that have the best shot at winning it all!
