Zimmer Biomet Cape Coral Open

Pros and hopefuls have been battling this week through early rounds of the Cape Coral Open, and the pickleballTV broadcast kicks off Thursday morning with the Round of 16. Don’t worry— we’ll catch you up on what you’ve missed so far!

Brackets & Storylines

Women’s Singles

• Anna Leigh Waters did not sign up to play singles this event, leaving the top spot for Kate Fahey, who will have to contend against Kaitlyn Christian, Brooke Buckner, and Lea Jansen in spots 2-4, respectively

• Ava Ignatowich, Salome Devidze, and Hannah Blatt all withdrew from singles.

• #46 Keilly Ulery, who recently won the singles title at the Tuscon PPA Challenger event, upset #19 Marcela Hones, and advanced through R32 with Hannah Blatt’s withdrawal. She’ll face #3 Lea Jansen next in R16.

• Upset: #47 Samantha Buyckx beat #18 Ting Chieh Wei and #16 Jalina Ingram; next, she faces Kaitlyn Christian (#2) in R16.

Men’s Singles

• Ben Johns opted out of singles this event; #1 Hunter Johnson will defend his title with threats from #2 Federico Staksrud and #3 Christian Alshon.

• Withrawals: Grayson Goldin, Pablo Tellez, Chris Haworth, and Brandon French all withdrew before the bracket began. Only Haworth (#4) and Goldin (#19) were replaced with qualifier players.

• In a somewhat surprising set, Tama Shimabukuro (#29) pickled Tyson McGuffin (#40) TWICE, with a loss 6-11 in between. However, he lost to #7 Jaume Martinez Vich in R32.

• Newcomer George Rangelov (#30) has been on a roll: after signing with PPA a week ago, and winning men’s singles at the Punta Gorda Challenger event, he bypassed R64 with Pablo’s withdrawal, and defeated #4 Eli Steiner, who took Chris Haworth’s spot. Next, he faces Jay Devilliers in R16.

• Upset: other than some lucky passes with all the withdrawals, #32 Connor Mogle beat #5 Connor Garnett in 3 games. He moves on to R16 to take on #10 Dylan Frazier.

Mixed Doubles

• The largest bracket of the event with 77 teams; Ben & Anna Leigh and JW & Jorja Johnson are the top teams to beat. Could this be the event the Johnsons take down the behemoth of Ben & ALW?

• Our own Tyler Loong partnered with Elsie Hendershot in a lefty-lefty duo that was a fun watch. They played both R128 and R64 on Tuesday, ultimately falling to CJ Klinger & Callie Jo Smith.

• First-time partners Hurricane Tyra Black & Mohaned Alhouni are set to play #6 Jade Kawamoto & Andrei Daescu in R16.

• Upsets headed to R16:

  • #19 Augie Ge & Mari Humberg beat Dekel Bar & Parris Todd and will face Noe Khlif & Tina Pisnik. If they succeed, they would face Ben & ALW in quarters.

  • #23 Lacy Schneemann & Max Freeman beat Klinger & Smith to advance and will play #4 Christian Alshon & Rachel Rohrabacher next.

Women’s Doubles

• Hate to say it, but everything so far is panning out exactly as expected, with very few upsets. The Annas remain the team to beat, and #3 Black/Johnson may be the most likely to take them down.

• The only notable (but narrow) upsets were #20 Marcela Hones/Alli Phillips over the Walker sisters (#12), and #19 Genie Erokhina/Judit Castillo over #14 Christa Gecheva/Lina Padegimaite. Judit & Genie face Tyra & Jorja next, while Marcela & Alli will play Lacy Schneemann & Kate Fahey.

Men’s Doubles

• Ben Johns & Gabe Tardio have only lost 4 games since their partnership began: to Alshon & Daescu twice (Mesa and Worlds), to CJ & JW in Atlanta, and Patriquin & Staksrud at Worlds. Here, they’ll face a combination of these players with #2 Alshon & Patriquin, #3 Daescu & Staksrud, and #4 CJ & JW.

• Tyler partnered for the first time with Germany’s Tom Protzek, beating Anderson Scarpa & Greg Dow in 3 games and advancing to face JW & CJ in R16.

• Upsets headed to R16:

  • Tama Shimabukuro & Yuta Funemizu (#25) toppled #8 McGuffin & Freeman in 3 games, and will face #10 Collin Johns & Jaume Martinez Vich next.

  • #19 Rafa Hewett & John Lucian Goins beat #12 Zane Navratil & Donald Young, also in 3 games. They’ll see #2 Alshon & Patriquin in the next round.

Coverage for the Cape Coral Open will be broadcast on PickleballTV (now available on YouTube TV), with side court streaming on YouTube. Coverage begins daily at 10 a.m. ET.

Episode 182: MLP Preview and latest news & signings

Tyler & Jimmy review the latest announcements happening in the Pickleball world (including Sofia Sewing who will be breaking into the MLP circuit)! MLP 2026 season is getting closer and so they talk through the teams and what predictions they have for upcoming drafts. Plus— your questions, answered!

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