PPA: Bristol Open Preview

Storylines to watch + viewing guides

Author

Team KOTC
August 14, 2024

Come with us to the beautiful eastern Tennessee mountainside for the IHG Hotels & Resorts Bristol Open. This event is not a progressive draw so it kicks off with singles on Thursday, August 15th.

Here are the storylines we’re watching:

  • So… this is new. In mixed, Anna Bright is playing with James Christian Alshon for the first time. Usual-partner James is not playing mixed, but will be playing singles and men’s doubles (with Andrei Daescu).

  • Tyler is competing only in men’s doubles this week, alongside Noe Khlif for the first time. The draws look good for making a run to semis, where they’ll most likely need to topple The Johns or Fed & Gabe (barring any major upsets).

  • Catherine Parenteau is on a merry-go-round of mixed partners for the next several events, playing this week with Andrei Daescu. Last week she paired with Fed and they walked away with bronze. Can Andrei do better?

  • Salome Devidze is returning to PPA for the first time since TX Open on June 1st, where she, Lea, and a plethora of line judges duked it out for the gold medal. She beat Anna Leigh at that event; to repeat, she’ll need to defeat her on Championship Sunday, as she’s on the opposite side of the bracket. PPA knew what they were doing with that draw.

  • Who can take down Catherine and Anna Leigh? The highest likelihood is 2-seed (and BFFs) Anna Bright & Rachel Rohrbacher), unless Lacy Schneemann & Jade Kawamoto (who snagged silver in KC) take them out first.

  • Staksrud and Tardio are fired up and ready for a repeat. They’ll have to go through the Johns bros again, though they’ve been in a rough patch lately so it may not be so difficult.

  • Speaking of… it looks like Ben & Collin’s general malaise has carried over from MLP. They looked downright put out in the bronze medal match. Even announcer Rob Cassidy described them as “very not present” and “not fighting” for a win.

We interrupt this preview…

Just in from qualifiers today. According to Grayson Goldin on X, PPA staff was adding taped lines 4 feet inside the baseline, advising that serves must land in front of that line (similar to tennis). This measure is a test suggested by the players’ council, purportedly as a means to control serves, since /some/ players are still serving above the waist, and it’s not consistently being called by refs.

Grayson later confirmed in comments that this was not an enforceable rule for this event, but simply something they are trying out. As you can imagine, lots of people had things to say about this.

Now, back to your regularly scheduled newsletter preview…

Brackets

Keep these brackets handy for tracking who’s playing with whom in each event!

Where to Watch

Thursday, Aug 15th - Singles

11 am - 7 pm ET - Championship Court - PickleballTV

11 am - 5 pm ET - Grandstand Court - YouTube

Friday, Aug 16th - Mixed Doubles

11 am - 7 pm ET - Championship Court - PickleballTV

11 am - 5 pm ET - Grandstand Court - YouTube

9:30 - 11:30 pm ET - CC Mixed Re-Run - FS1

Saturday, Aug 17th - Men’s & Women’s Doubles

11 am - 7 pm ET - Championship Court - PickleballTV

11 am - 5 pm ET - Grandstand Court - YouTube

7 - 9 pm ET - CC Mixed Re-Run - FS1

Sunday, Aug 18th - Finals

11 am - 1 pm ET - Championship Court - PickleballTV

1 - 3 pm ET - Championship Court - FOX

3 - 6 pm ET - Championship Court - PickleballTV

10 am - 2 pm ET - Bronze Medal Match - Grandstand Court - YouTube

UPCOMING EVENTS

Mark your calendar; these are the PPA tournaments happening for the rest of the year.

PLUS we’ll be hosting a special meet & greet event at PPA Salt Lake City, and filming the pod onsite with special guests. If you’ve been thinking about attending a future event - this is the one you want! More details to come.

Coming to TN? Use code KOTC for discounted tickets!
KOTC X PPA use code KOTC for discounted tickets
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