Live Now! PPA Virgina Beach

Fasenra Virginia Beach Cup

The PPA tour returns to Virginia Beach for a progressive-draw tournament. Tuesday wrapped up round of 64, and we’ve got all the early round recaps & what to watch the rest of the week.

Race to the Finals

As was announced last month, the PPA season has been adjusted to run after the conclusion of MLP championships through April, with Finals in early May before the next MLP season commences.

With this change, event points that contribute to The Race (qualifier for Finals in May) will continue to accumulate through the Atlanta Slam in April 2026. That makes Virginia Beach the 6th event of the 2025-2026 season.

(It is unclear how points from earlier 2025 events, before the calendar adjustment, will contribute to the Race, if at all. But those events will continue to count toward Rank and seeding. Review the full calendar below.)

Women’s Singles

• Anna Leigh returns after sitting out the Vintage Open in Sacramento two weeks ago. She’ll have a pretty clear path to finals, where she’ll potentially face #2 Kaitlyn Christian and #10 Salome Devidze, who is one of the few to have taken her down in singles.

• Kaitlyn Christian may be a bit jet-lagged after returning from two PPA Asia stops, and had to retire from the finals (bronze) round of the Vietnam Cup. She may be the strongest contender to beat ALW, so let’s hope she’s healthy enough for good competition.

• R64: Christa Gecheva lost in 3 games to newcomer Kiora Kunimoto, a 17-year-old tennis player from Hawaii. Kunimoto previously beat Mari Humberg in singles in Sacramento.

Men’s Singles

• New #1 Hunter Johnson looks to bounce back from a disappointing performance in Sacramento, though the wood paddles in that tournament threw everyone for a loop.

• Christian Alshon #4 will also look to regain momentum in men’s singles after playing in PPA Asia’s Malaysia Cup, and continue his Gold Medal streak in singles after winning in Malaysia and Cincinnati.

• R64: #43 Eric Oncins upset #21 Grayson Goldin, who otherwise could have been a dark horse to make a deep run. Julian Arnold withdrew from singles, advancing James Ignatowich to R32. In another upset, Tom Protzek (42) beat Pablo Tellez (19), 11-2, 11-5.

Mixed Doubles

• Anna Bright and CJ Klinger are teaming up for the first time and have snagged the #3 seed. They're up against some formidable, well-established pairs: AL & Ben, the Johnsons, and Christian & Catherine. While Anna and CJ have a shot, they'll have to face AL & Ben in their part of the bracket. There's a bit of uncertainty around Ben's mindset after his lackluster attitude at the end of the Vietnam Cup. If his focus is still off, Anna and CJ might just have the opportunity to capitalize on that.

• Outside the big names, Hayden & Hurricane Tyra stand a fighting chance at the #5 seed to sweep through and take down one of these teams. They’ll need to take down Flash teammates Jorja & JW to get to semis.

• R64: just a few upsets to note - Andrea Koop & Daniel De La Rosa (44) took down Lea Jansen & Max Freeman (17). Next, they’ll face Jaume & Meghan Dizon in R32. Also, Salome Devidze & Rafa Hewett (45) beat #23 Kaitlyn Christian & AJ Koller. They will go up against sibs Alix & Jonathan Truong, who are riding the high of their gold medal win in Vietnam.

Women’s Doubles

• Bright & Waters look to bounce back from Cincinnati after getting knocked out by the Kawamotos in the semis. They ultimately took bronze, but are sure to be dialed in to redeem themselves this time around. The Kawas are playing with different partners this time (Jackie with Lucy Kovalova and Jade with Catherine Parenteau), so there won’t be a rematch.

• On the opposite side, Jorja Johnson & Rachel Rohrabacher have the #2 seed, and should have a breezy path to semis. They’ve had good success in their 2 past tournaments together, winning silver in Bristol and a year ago took bronze in Vegas.

• R64: Junior ladies are making waves! Newly signed 15-year-old Ella Yeh and partner Giovanna Morelli won the round and play #3 Jade & Catherine next. Sisters Victoria & Valerie Simon (15 & 17 years, respectively) came through qualifiers and won R64 and face Hurricane Tyra and Parris in R32.

Men’s Doubles

• Like mixed, we’re seeing a lot of dominant, established partnerships here: Ben & Gabe, Christian & Andrei, Fed & Hayden, and JW & CJ Klinger round out the top 4 seeds.

• Jay Devilliers and Matt Wright are joining forces again after nearly two years, and they might just shake things up as the #8 seed. There's a good chance they'll go up against their old partners, Pat Smith and Riley Newman, in the Round of 32.

• R64: The Alhouni brothers were upset by Ohio boys Camden Chaffin and Ross Whitaker, including a pickle in game 1. Jhonnatan Medina Alvarez & Alex Crum have potential to turn some heads, but will have a hard matchup against Gabe & Ben in R32.

Coverage for the Virginia Beach Cup will be broadcast on PickleballTV, now available on YouTube TV!

Side court streaming will be broadcast on YouTube.

Make a plan to come to a PPA event, and get a discount with our code: KOTC

Upcoming events:

10/6-12 Virginia Beach, VA - going on now!

10/20-26 Vegas Cup, Las Vegas

11/3 - 9 World Championships, Dallas

Episode 165: Weekly Round-up

Watch for latest news that have been released this week which could be having massive positive effects for the pickleball world, plus a full preview of the Virginia Beach Cup.