PPA Mesa: Preview

It’s time to talk about the most exciting thing happening this week….

oh wait, this is the PPA preview, not MLP roster news.

(don’t worry - as soon as we know who’s dropped, we’ll update you. Also, check out the pod, premiering today)

Carvana Mesa Cup

The Mesa Cup progressive draw kicks off TODAY, with broadcast starting on PBTV at 1 p.m. ET. Hosting the event is the Arizona Athletic Grounds, an expansive venue that is “one of the largest youth sports and entertainment complexes in North America.”

Storylines that are making waves:

• Ben & ALW are both back to playing singles, after taking a few tournaments off of the event.

• Can Federico Staksrud overcome the challenges (with his paddle?) he faced in Tucson after a couple surprising upsets and then a withdrawal?

• During this event, the Collegiate Pickleball Tour will have a showcase match, Saturday on Grandstand, between Grand Canyon University and Arizona State.

• The debut of Ben & Gabe as new partners for 2025: ranked #2 behind Fed & Hayden, how will this new pairing fare?

What to watch in each bracket:

Women’s Singles

• When Anna Leigh plays, the outcome is almost decided, but there’s always a chance for an upset. Strong contenders on the opposite side of the bracket that ALW could meet in finals are Parris Todd, coming off her gold medal in Tucson, Kaitlyn Christian, and Brooke Buckner. Anna Leigh will need to get through Catherine Parenteau in QF, and Lea Jansen or Kate Fahey in semis to make her Championship Sunday run.

• Genie Bouchard has been consistently improving, working her way up the ranks and is now #14 in this event. She has earned a first round bye and will start play on Wednesday. If she wins in R32, she’ll have a tough matchup against Kaitlyn Christian in R16.

• Jorja Johnson, who doesn’t typically play singles, will be competing and will likely face Jessie Irvine in her first round, followed by Kate Fahey if she gets to R16.

Men’s Singles

• This is a massive bracket, with lots of competition and high chances of some upsets.

• Tyson McGuffin has already withdrawn from all events in Mesa; he had the #5 seed. Levi Daniel, who was a 9th place qualifier, takes his spot and will face #57 Spartak Rahachou, who finished 2nd in qualies.

• Tyler plays Julian Arnold in R64; if he beats him, he’ll likely face QD in R32, unless Quang withdraws again due to his nagging knee issues.

• Qualifier winner Oliver Frank faces Quang Duong in R64. At Worlds, this 31-year-old from Germany, beat Collin Shick and Donald Young, then took Connor Garnett to 3 games. Don’t count him out!

Mixed Doubles

• This is another massive bracket, with favorites of each corner of the bracket: Ben/ALW (1), JW/Jorja (2), Anna Bright/Dekel (3), and Fed/Catherine (4).

• Ben & ALW haven’t lost in nearly a year, and that’s unlikely to change. So it’s a battle for second.

• The Johnsons. Ever since the Vegas finals matchup with Ben & ALW in October last year, they seem to be broken mentally. On the upside, every tournament, Jorja is getting more consistent, more experienced, and more confident. JW needs to be focused, Jorja needs to be dialed in, and if they catch Ben on an off day, they could catch the upset.

• Anna Bright has been on a merry-go-round of mixed partners, hasn’t found the right fit yet— we’re not sure it’s Dekel. They played together in Tucson, and lost in QF to JW and Maggie Brascia.

• Don’t count out Hurricane Tyra & Christian Alshon, who are teaming up for the first time in nearly a year, and sit in the #5 spot. Both have been performing incredibly well separately; could they find the magic this time around?

Women’s Doubles

• Waters & Parenteau once again are heavy favorites, with The Girlies Anna Bright & Rachel Rohrabacher as their biggest hurdle to another gold.

• We’re excited to see Lucy Kovalova & Etta Tuionetoa (Wright) partner up for the first time! They are in the same corner of the bracket as The Girlies, but we fully expect them to make a strong run.

• Hurricane Tyra & Parris Todd - hands down the best dressed partnership on the PPA Tour - have the #3 seed, after winning bronze in Tucson.

• Zoey Wang & Brooke Buckner, currently sitting together on Las Vegas’ MLP roster, will be an interesting matchup to watch as it could give us a preview of the Night Owls’ season to come. (We don’t expect either to be dropped)

Men’s Doubles

• With Ben & Gabe partnership off to a start, where does that leave Collin Johns? After playing with Jay Devilliers in Australia where they got bronze (in a very thin field), he’s trying his hand with AJ Koller. They’ll have to face either CJ Klinger/Quang Duong or Jack Sock/Eric Roddy to make quarters.

• Fed/Hayden are at the #1 seed; after bowing out of men’s doubles at Tucson, Fed needs to prove he’s still got it, even after switching from Joola’s power paddle to adidas’ stock paddle (his signature paddle has yet to be released).

• At #6, JW Johnson & Noe Khlif are trying out a partnership, with JW’s expected partner, Gabe Tardio, jumping ship to play with Ben.

• With Tyson McGuffin’s withdrawal, the #5 spot goes to Mike Radermacher & Brian Bonilla, who finished 14th in the pro qualifier (ahead of Grayson Goldin and his partner). They’ll face the winner of the Alhouni bros vs. Sam Angelo & Rio Newcombe (who finished 4th in qualies). If you want to root for something a little different, this could be it!

Episode 127: MLP trades & updates

Premiering TODAY