Proton Australia Pickleball Open

Australia Open

Several US-based pros are making the trek Down…. south of the equator for the first-ever international stop for the US PPA tour. Though it’s a US tour stop, many players signed to PPA Tour Australia will be there.

US-based players making the trip:

• Jay Devilliers and Collin Johns (partnering for MD)

• Bao Duong (QD’s little bro - Quang is also competing)

• CJ Klinger (partnering with QD)

• Zane Navratil

• Tyson McGuffin

• Gabe Tardio

• Allyce Jones

• Hurricane Tyra Black

• Jessie Irvine

• Alix Truong

• Lacy Schneemann

• Vivian Glozman

Notables:

• With a narrow field of US players, those needing PPA points to stay in the Top 50 and qualify for the end-of-year finals will be getting a leg up. This Open event is worth 1,000 PPA points for winners.

• Newly signed to the US tour, Tom Evans and Helena Spiridis (off-court couple, too!) are slated to play in all events.

• Quang Duong’s little bro, Bao, is just 14 years old and playing men’s doubles with top Aussie pro Puc Huynh

• For players with no PPA tour points - basically all the Aussies - the seeding is random.

What to watch in each bracket:

Women’s Singles

• The bracket, compared to men’s, is comically small at just 21 competitors. The field is typically smaller in women’s on US stops, but it’s even more obvious in Kangaroo Kingdom (we made that up just now).

• Kaitlyn Christian is ranked #1 - should we just go ahead and give her the gold? Or do we think Jessie Irvine (3) will pop up and shock us all?

• #2 seed is Ekaterina Biakina, Russian former tennis player who has played a number of events on the PPA and APP tours. She’s typically a R32 finisher but has made quarters in APP and as high as R16 in PPA events in 2024.

• Top Australian players to watch for - could they break through and best some Americans? Roos Van Reek (14) and Danni-Elle Townsend (16) are overall ranked #4 and #5, respectively, on the PPA Australia tour. Somer Dalla-Bona (12) is the 2nd-ranked PPA Australia women’s player in singles. Somer and Danni-Elle face off in the first round, and any of these ladies have a good chance of making finals.

Men’s Singles

• Again, look at the sheer size of this bracket compared to women’s singles. Sixty players are facing off in this event.

• Tyson McGuffin takes the top seed, followed by Quang Duong (2) and Gabe Tardio (3). Could be a clean sweep of US players on the medal stand.

• In a fairly distant 4th seed is Dave Bacalla, who did take Tardio to 3 games back in Las Vegas 2024. Similar to the women’s field, he beats out the Aussies in seeding due to PPA point ranking. This gives him a pretty big advantage as he bypasses the first round.

• Top-ranked men’s singles Australian players competing this week are Mitch Hargreaves (7), Phuc Huynh (5) and Tom Evans (6).

Mixed Doubles

• Some familiar favorite partnerships are reuniting, like Allyce Jones and Jay Devilliers(4), and Jessie Irvine and Gabe Tardio (1), and Lacy Schneemann and Tyson McGuffin (2). They’ve only played a handful of times, so you may have forgotten, but Alix Truong and Collin Johns have the 5th seed.

• We’re excited to watch some new matchups, like Hurricane Tyra Black and CJ Klinger (3), and Vivan Glozman and Quang Duong (6).

• And as a real first: Kaitlyn Christian (who rarely plays doubles) is partnering with boyfriend Alex Hunt (founder of pickleball agency Hype\Natn). They’re gifted with the 8th seed, despite Alex having a 4.5 doubles DUPR.

• Zane Navartil is partnering with top Dutch player (and 4th overall women’s PPA Australia pro) Roos Van Reek. They’ll need to get past Tyson and Lacy to make semis.

• #1 overall mixed Aussie team, Danni-Elle Townsend and Joey Wild have the unfortunate draw to get the 36-seed, but they did get a bye out of the first round. They will likely need to topple Jones/Devilliers to get to quarters.

Women’s Doubles

• Like women’s singles, this bracket is relatively small with just 18 pairs battling for the gold medal.

• Hurricane Tyra & Allyce take the top seed, and have a pretty favorable draw to make it to Championship Sunday (Saturday here in the States). On their side of the bracket is Kaitlyn Christian and partner Andrea (Andie) Dikosavljevic, another former tennis player who turned to pro pickleball in 2024.

• Lacy Schneemann & Viv Glozman (2) are likely to meet Jessie & Alix in semis, if they can all stay ahead of the Aussies.

• #1 Women’s doubles player on the Australian tour, Roos Van Reek, is partnering with Kaitlynn Hart (#9 on that list) and would likely face Tyra & Allyce in quarters. Being the top ladies in Australia, can they best the #1 seed?

Men’s Doubles

• The only team getting a bye out of the first round is #1 seed Tyson McGuffin & Gabe Tardio. Though these two have had a lot of success separately, this will be their first time pairing up. If it’s magic? Well, too bad… Gabe’s committed to play with Ben so enjoy this while it lasts.

• PPA OGs Collin Johns & Jay Devilliers have the #2 seed, but are likely to face #3 Quang Duong and CJ Klinger on their side of the bracket. Last time Quang and CJ played together (at Worlds) they made it to the bronze medal match, taking Fed & Matt Wright to (but ultimately losing in) 3 games.

• Zane Navartil seems to be enjoying the change of scenery; in addition to partnering with PPA Australia mixed partner Van Reek, he’s also pairing with #1 overall men’s player Joey Wild. They are the #4 seed, and appear to have a nice path to semis.

• There’s one somewhat significant change since these brackets were released. Per pickleballtournaments.com, Tom Evans is slated to play with Mitch Hargreaves (instead of partners Zach Grabovic and Harsh Mehta, respectively). Tom & Mitch will have the 8th seed, and taking Tom & Zach’s exited 9th seed is Joshua Shemroske & Alex Cortes.

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Watch Episode 124

Jimmy & Tyler cover a preview of the Australian Open, and have a serious but necessary convo about mental health, particularly for men as they remember two dear friends in their Utah pickleball community.