The APP Tour hits the Big Apple this weekend in one of the tour’s biggest events of the year! Over 1,100 amateur and pro players are registered to participate in the tournament, hosted at the massive USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center in Queens.
Coming off of the incredible PPA Atlanta Open that we witnessed last weekend, we’re ready for another action-packed event with the APP! We’ve got a lot to look out for; from the staples of Andrei Daescu and Parris Todd to up-and-coming forces like Alix Truong, there are plenty of players who will make a huge impact within their brackets.
Amateur play kicked off yesterday, and tomorrow, May 25th, marks the start of pro play with men’s and women’s pro singles. Let’s outline some of our favorites who might make an appearance in the finals on Championship Sunday!
Men’s Singles
You guessed it: The Johnson brothers are going to be our favorites yet again. Seeing Yates and Hunter Johnson facing off in the finals has become a regular occurrence, especially after their back-to-back championship matches at the APP Sacramento Open and the most recent APP Vlasic Classic.
Yates appears to have fallen into a groove against his brother Hunter, having won gold against him in the last two tournaments. Historically, Hunter has typically had the upper hand against his twin brother, but recently it seems that Yates has been getting a better read on Hunter’s strategies.
William Sobek earned the bronze medal next to the Johnson Brothers at the Vlasic Classic, so we expect to see him as a strong 3-seed contender. Especially after his impressive performance against Ryler DeHeart in the quarterfinals, Sobek could prove himself be the first to take a gold away from one of the Johnsons.
Women’s Singles
In women’s singles, we expect to see the return of Salome Devidze at Championship Sunday. She played absolutely lights out at the Vlasic Classic, not dropping a single game.
As far as who we might see go up against Devidze, our favorites are Megan Fudge and Alix Truong. Fudge’s last appearance was in Sacramento, where she made it to the finals but had to forfeit due to illness. If Fudge returns to this tournament healthy, you can bet that she’ll be pushing for that gold-medal match she missed out on.
Truong was the 2-seed in women’s singles at the Vlassic Classic, making it to the quarterfinals without dropping a game, but then unfortunately lost to Jenna Hessert. She also managed to take home her first gold medal in mixed pro doubles with Andrei Daescu; now that she’s got a gold in doubles, she’ll be gunning to earn one on her own in singles.
Mixed Doubles
At the Vlasic Classic, we saw a finals match between the teams of Andrei Daescu and Alix Troung and Susannah Barr and Rob Nunnery. Daescu is switching it up yet again, and will now be partnered with Maggie Remynse for the NYC Open. Without a doubt, they’re going to be a strong pairing, expect to see them make it far in the main draw.
The Barr and Nunnery duo are paired up again and have a solid shot at making their return to Championship Sunday, as the two are some of the strongest doubles players in the APP right now.
Another pair to watch out for are Alix Truong and Yates Johnson. Both earned gold medals in Cincinnati, and it’ll be interesting to see how the two fair as a new team.
Men’s Doubles
The winning team from Cincinnati returns once again in NYC: Andrei Daescu and Rob Nunnery will be our favorites for this weekend’s tournament. It was amazing watching them at the Vlasic Classic; not only did they not lose a single game, but it honestly didn’t feel like losing was an option in any of them.
Despite getting knocked out right away to the 15-seed in Cincinnati, we’re expecting a strong return from the Johnson Brothers. They haven’t hit the finals match since Mesa, where they took on Daescu and Pesa Teoni. It’d be interesting to see them take on Daescu once again in the finals and finally take home a gold together this season.
Women’s Doubles
Let’s be honest, we’re going to see Simone Jardim and Parris Todd in the finals. The two have won 5 gold medals this season together in women’s doubles, and we haven’t see too many teams consistently contend with them.
Megan Fudge keeps finding herself going up against the Jardim-Todd duo, but hasn’t been able to defeat them. She’s recently partnered with Bobbi Oshiro and Susannah Barr, but this time around she’ll be paired up with Alix Truong.
Truong played well with Milan Rane as the 3-seed team in Cincinnati, even taking down the 6-seed team of Ava Kalist and Ivy Tschetter without dropping a point. Truong even faced Fudge and Barr, and kept the match close before losing (7-11, 10-12); maybe they’ll be able to use their experience across the court from one another to play better on the same side of the court.
