The 2023 APP Philadelphia Open is underway this weekend! Over 500 APP Tour players are making an appearance in the City of Brotherly Love, and the draws look tight.
Women’s and men’s singles are currently underway, and it looks like we might be seeing some new faces on Championship Sunday!
Men’s Singles
In men’s singles, we’re anticipating a finals match between Yates Johnson and Ryler DeHeart, as so far, they appear to be the strongest players in their respective brackets. However, we could see the rise of Jose Dominguez Alonso, who has yet to drop a match in the competition so far.
I have a feeling we’ll see a quarterfinals matchup of DeHeart and Alonso. On the other side of the bracket, Yates is about to go up against Eduardo Irizarry, a Selkirk-sponsored player who is on the brink of a breakout tournament in men’s singles.
Women’s Singles
Women’s singles is underway, and it looks like we’re going to see another Championship Sunday appearance from Salome Devidze. Devidze had a decent run at last weekend’s PPA Tournament of Champions, but fell short when going up against Catherine Parenteau.
In this tournament, Devidze is likely to face off against Simone Jardim, who has found incredible success in doubles alongside Parris Todd this year but hasn’t quite managed to break into singles. So, while a Devidze/Jardim matchup is likely, we have a feeling that it could be one-sided, as Devidze has gone all-in with her singles game.
Mixed Doubles
Susannah Barr has the eye of the tiger this weekend, and after her success alongside Andrei Daescu last weekend, we expect to see her make it to the top once again! We think we could see them face off against Parris Todd and Hunter Johnson for the second week in a row, as they will be hunting for revenge after last week’s silver-medal finish.
Besides the top 2-seeded teams, there are a few other teams that stand out. Vivian Glozman and Rob Nunnery feel like a strong pairing. Rob’s taken home several medals this year so far, and Glozman has been on the rise in pro pickleball since going full-time pro earlier this summer.
Women’s Doubles
Parris Todd is back at it again with Simone Jardim, and together, they are easily the top women’s doubles team in the APP. However, they will likely have to face off against defending gold medalists Susannah Barr and Megan Fudge. #FudgeBarr
Barr and Fudge only dropped one game in St. Louis, and it’s likely that they’ll keep this newfound momentum going into this weekend. In an interview with the APP, Fudge explains that she fully believes in her partnership with Barr and that they were confident in their win last week.
“That trust in our partnership between Susannah and I, working through just the journey together, and the feeling of coming out on top and getting to raise the trophy on Sunday, it just felt like we owned it.”
Megan Fudge
Men’s Doubles
We’re big Mick/Klinger fans here at PU after their big win last weekend. Andre Mick and CJ Klinger came out of nowhere in last weekend’s tournament and took down the top-seeded team of Rob Nunnery and Andrei Daescu. Will they be able to go back-to-back?
Daescu and Nunnery are sure to be pushing for another gold medal together. Daescu leads the APP men’s pros with 11 gold medals so far and will likely be aiming to round that up to an even dozen this weekend.
It’s been a minute since we’ve seen Hunter Johnson and Yates Johnson take home a gold together; we think it’s time to fix that. Both Hunter and Yates have been tearing it up in singles lately, with Hunter earning gold in St. Louis and Yates taking down Ben Johns at the PPA Takeya Showcase. This feels like the right weekend for the Johnsons to make a run for the finals together.
