Table of Contents

• Kansas City in review

• Championship Sunday Schedule

• Next Up: Bristol Open

• Watch the latest pod

• Join the Discord community

It’s not just Upset City… it’s Upset NATION

Let’s take a look at how the tournament has gone so far (SO many upsets), and recap who’s in the finals. (For sake of argument, we’re considering anything larger than a 5-seed differential an upset.) The biggest takeaway (spoiler alert) is there’s NO Ben or Anna Leigh in Singles finals, NO Johns brothers in Men’s Doubles finals, and 30- and 31-seed Women’s Singles players on Championship Sunday.

Men’s Singles

• Jack Sock faced a surprise upset by Aanik Lohani (12) in R16, with Aanik winning 11-9, 11-9, but then lost to Connor Garnett in quarters. (Watch Jack v. Aanik here)

• Rafa Hewett (15) made it to QF, beating Christian Alshon in R16 before falling to his Cali Black Bears replacement, Chris Haworth.

• Perhaps most impressively, Gabe Tardio (22) toppled Gabriel Joseph in 3 high-scoring games (12-14, 11-8, 11-7) before knocking out Quang Duong, also in 3. He ended up losing to Tyson McGuffin in quarters, again in 3 games (Watch here).

• Ben Johns did not participate in singles this time around, leaving a fairly wide field for the gold medal.

• SUNDAY MATCHUP - McGuffin vs. Connor Garnett

• Bronze - Fed vs. Chris Haworth

Women’s Singles

• 50% of matchups were upsets; most significant are MLP powerhouses Mari Humberg (30) and Kate Fahey (31) who plowed through the bracket to make it to Championship Sunday.

• Women who were highly favored to go to finals, with Anna Leigh sitting out, were knocked out surprisingly early. Lea Jansen lost to Kate Fahey in the first round; Jorja was knocked out by newbie Samantha Parker in R16 (Watch here); and Catherine Parenteau was beat in QF by Kaitlyn Christian (Watch here).

• SUNDAY MATCHUP - Brooke Buckner vs. Kate Fahey

• Bronze - Kaitlyn vs. Mari

Mixed Doubles

• Possibly the most exhilirating match of the whole weekend was Ben/ALW vs Alshon/Etta Wright. Though it may not look spectacular on paper, Christian & Etta stayed dialed to 11, giving Ben & AL NO chance to breathe. Ben and AL still came out on top in 3 games: 7-11, 11-7, 11-5. (Watch here)

• #25 pair + lovebirds Hunter and Parris made it to Championship Sunday, taking down Jessie & Hayden (5), Allyce & Zane (17), and Jay & Callie (13). They fell to Ben & AL in semis, taking them to the bronze medal match.

• A fun but close matchup worth a re-watch is Jack & Lea narrowly beating Hurricane Tyra and Dylan Frazier. (Watch here)

• Other notable upsets: Kawka/Fahey (49) beat “Andiamo”/Koop (15) and Augie/Jackie Kawamoto (19) before losing to the Big Dogs, Ben and ALW. CJ Klinger/Humberg (42) took down Viv Glozman/Tyson McGuffin (9), before losing to Alshon/Etta. #53 Kyle Koszuta/Christa Gecheva took out Matt & Lucy in the first round (but then lost to Allyce & Zane in R32).

• SUNDAY MATCHUP - Ben & AL vs. Johnson sibs JW & Jorja

• Bronze - Hunter & Parris vs. Fed & Catherine

Men’s Doubles

• Tyler & CG sailed through R32 against Eric Oncins & college roomie Patrick Kawka 11-4, 11-7, then absolutely battled in R16 against Jay D. & Pat Smith. After losing game 1 5-11, the guys PICKLED the Europeans in game 2, then took game 3 to 12-10. Sadly, they lost to eventual finalists JW and Dyl in QF 5-11, 5-11. Replay not yet available. Follow PPA’s YouTube for release.

• The obvious big news is Ben & Collin (who also doesn’t look happy playing PPA, hmm) were knocked out in the semis by Fed and Tardio (9-11, 11-1, 5-11).

• There weren’t nearly as many upsets in this event; almost all matchups turned out predictably (aside from the Johns’ upset, which is ALWAYS notable).

• SUNDAY MATCHUP - JW & Dyl vs. Fed & Tardio

• Bronze - Johns Bros vs. Alshon & Big H

Women’s Doubles

• Lucy and new partner Jackie Kawamoto had a dynamic day, making it to QFs and had the weekend’s highest-scoring game: 14-16 against Lacy Schneemann and sister Jade Kawamoto. Replay not yet available. Follow PPA’s YouTube for release.

• MLP rivals Jorja & Mari Humberg paired up, going all the way to semis, where they lost to #1 CP & AL.

• Jessie and Koop probably had the best match of the bracket, taking out Hurricane Tyra and Viv Glozman. Two of the least mobile players vs two of the most, battling for 3 games (11-7, 7-11, 11-5)

• SUNDAY MATCHUP - CP & AL vs. Lacy & Jade Kawamoto

• Bronze - Jorja & Mari vs. Meghan Dizon & Etta Wright

Championship Sunday Schedule

Next Up: IHG Hotels & Resorts Bristol Open

We’re in PPA’s hot season; they’re running a neck-breaking pace of 6 back-to-back events, with the Bristol Open starting in mere days.

Qualifiers kick off on Wednesday, Aug 14th and the event concludes Aug 18th. If you’ve been thinking of venturing to the far outreaches of eastern Tennessee in the gorgeous Appalachian mountains, be sure to secure your tickets (or register to play!) using KOTC’s discount code.

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