PPA Vegas - here's what you've missed so far

Welcome to Semi-final day at the PPA Las Vegas Pickleball Cup today. If you’ve missed out on the action thus far, we’ll catch you up and clue you into the must-watch matches of the day.

What you missed:

• TYLER’S IN THE SEMIS! After a contentious matchup against Jay (that included Jay’s now-infamous hook of the century, conveniently edited out of the YouTube replay). Last night’s QF matchup was a thriller against Matt & Fed, taking them down in 3 electrifying games 7-11, 11-9, 11-9. The match is a MUST watch… as soon as PPA uploads it to YouTube.

• Kate Fahey seems dominant in women’s singles, beating 3 previous gold medalists to get to the semis vs Lacy Schneemann. Is she the clear number two in women’s already? Who else could knock out Judit, Mary, and Lea in successive rounds except ALW? (Watch her matchup with Lea here)

• Anna Bright decided to play late, so she couldn’t partner with her usual, Rachel Rohrabacher. However, Rachel proved she doesn’t need AB, making the semis with Jorja. They’ll have to find another level if they hope to knock off ALW/CP to make Championship Sunday. (Watch their QF match here)

• Riley and Christian decided to revisit their MLP partnership and see if Riley can prove he’s still a top 5 player. They both had a chip on their shoulder when they faced the Johns bros in the quarters.  Playing an extremely balanced style and relentlessly attacking Collin, Team Cold Plunge took it in 3: 11-9, 5-11, 12-10.  Christian had some choice words for Ben that ended in “b****” when they tapped paddles after the match. (Watch here)

• Mixed Doubles was by far the most delicious of the brackets. As we discussed above, Riley seems to be on a mission to prove that he’s not washed up, and he seems to have done it, partnering with Catherine.  Catherine’s mixed results have been very poor this year, so to make the semis by knocking off James/Vivian Glozman should help boost her confidence. (Watch here) However, they have their work cut out for them battling Christian and Anna who, despite not playing much, have what Anna described as “amazing chemistry." It’d be interesting to see if Christian can provide Anna what James never could….. a mixed gold medal.

What to watch today:

Singles is already underway - if you aren’t watching, don’t worry. These will most likely end as predictably as always. Although, Eric Roddy is in semis after Quang Duong had to withdraw due to an injury during their quarterfinal matchup.

The rest is ALL watchable … so get comfy on the couch and don’t miss a thing. But here’s what we’ll be glued to:

• 2 p.m. PT - We get another epic matchup of the Johnsons vs Ben and ALW. Ben and ALW seemed dialed in, having to beat Andrei/Meghan and Hayden/Lea to get there. Could this finally the Johnsons time?

• Following that matchup is Anna & Christian taking on Riley and Catherine. If Anna & Christian can pull it off, they’ll face Ben & ALW (we expect) to re-match their disappointing gold-medal matchup in Bristol.

• 5(ish) p.m. PT - Tyler & CG take on Gabe & Andrei. Tyler has been electric this tournament - can Dippin’ Dots power him through to Sunday?

• 6(ish) p.m. PT - With the Johns bros out of the way, Riley & Christian aim to show us they belong on Championship Sunday.