Table of Contents

• Utah Open recap

• Championship Sunday Schedule

• Next Up: Las Vegas Cup

• Watch the latest pod

• Join the Discord community

A Convention of Fun in Utah

Set on the stage of the Salt Palace Convention Center (former home of the Utah Jazz), this week’s PPA event was the 17th of the year. With top dawgs Ben, ALW, Parenteau, Alshon, and back-to-back women’s singles gold medalist Brooke Buckner all out, there was plenty of room for new faces to make the medal stand.

Here’s how it’s gone so far, and what Championship Sunday is set to look like:

Women’s Singles

• In her first-ever PPA tournament, newcomer Marianna Petrei started the weekend with a bang, knocking off #1 seed Lea Jansen. Most impressively, this Italian native (who came to the US on a tennis scholarship) usually never plays singles. So: first PPA tour, not typically playing singles… and she goes to the QF where she fell to Judit Castillo in three. We hope to see more of her!

• Chao “Zoey” Yi Wang continues to make strong showings at PPA, and had a déjà vu moment from Bristol when she made a semi-final run, losing to Kaitlyn Christian. (Watch here)

• SUNDAY MATCHUP - Kaitlyn Christian vs. Kate Fahey

• Bronze - Zoey Wang vs. Judit Castillo

Men’s Singles

• Rafa was rolling this week - he was a ball of energy, and went all the way to semis, taking down Tyson McGuffin and hotshot Grayson Goldin on the way. He ultimately lost to Connor Garnett, but sure gave him a run for his money! He goes for bronze on Sunday.

• Both Johnson brothers (Hunter & Yates) made a deep run, which was more of a feat for 27th-seed Hunter, who even knocked off Chris Haworth. Fed beat both brothers in back-to-back matches: Yates in QF and Hunter in semis.

• SUNDAY MATCHUP - Connor Garnett vs. Federico Staksrud

• Bronze - Hunter Johnson vs. Rafa Hewett

Mixed Doubles

• Anna and James made the finals as expected, but their chilly on-court interaction seemed professional only (if you know what we mean). Catch their 3-game match over Lea & Big H.

• Story of the tournament is Gabe and Jessie rolling to Sunday. They defeated JW & Jorja on the way, and we haven’t seen Jessie this locked in for a long time. She’s always had sparks of greatness, but it makes us wonder about the Carolina team chemistry even more. Also, exactly how good is Gabe?!

• Pablo showed he belongs in premier after taking down Dylan and Tyra in the quarters and forcing a game 3 vs. Gabe and Jessie.

• SUNDAY MATCHUP - Anna & James vs. Gabe & Jessie

• Bronze - Pablo & Mari vs. Jaume & Mary Brascia

Men’s Doubles

None of the gender double events have been posted on YouTube yet for replay. Follow PPA’s YouTube for release.

• Men’s doubles used to be very uneventful with very few competitive matches until the quarterfinals, and very few teams ever challenging the Johns brothers and Dyl/JW. However, with the Johns brothers gold medal drought and the splitting of Fed/Pablo men’s seems more competitive than ever. Ten of 14 matches from R16 through semis went to 3 games.

• Here’s a PPA first: a TikTok live broadcast. And naturally, it was the match between Big Pickle darlings Tyler & CG and Matt & James. This matchup felt tighter than it looked on paper, with a questionable ref overturn of an obvious out call, a foot fault to end game 2, and lots of chirps and objections from Matthew Wright, Esq.

• Friend of the pod Tyson McGuffin was sick on Friday, missing mixed, but miraculously recovered for men’s doubles. He and Jaume made a decent run, but it did appear that JMV was taking all the athletic shots while Tyson played a bit reserved. Let’s hope he heals/recovers/rests before Vegas starts in a few days.

• Andrei & Gabe are back to championship Sunday after squeaking by Hayden & Pablo in 3 (11-5, 7-11, 13-11). Can Andrei silence the critics who have been stuck on his cheating allegations since his suspension?

• SUNDAY MATCHUP - Gabe & Andrei vs. Matt & James

• Bronze - Hayden & Pablo vs. Augie & Fed

Women’s Doubles

• With no ALW/CP, Anna Bright and Rachel Rohrabacher were the clear favorites and they didn’t disappoint. Anna clearly came into Utah on a mission. She and Rachel didn’t drop a game until the semis in a heartbreaker against Lucy & Jackie Kawamoto. This means Anna plays for double golds tomorrow.

• Local favorites Etta & Meghan lost in the semis to the exciting new team of Jorja & Mari, who had already defeated Team Utah #2 (Allyce & Callie) in the quarters.  We’ll see if local fans hold that against Jorja & Mari tomorrow.

• The Brascia sisters looked rusty in their first tournament back and lost in the quarters to Lucy & Jackie(4-11, 2-11). We’ll see if they bounce back for Vegas.

• SUNDAY MATCHUP - Anna & Rachel vs. Jorja & Mari

• Bronze - Lucy & Jackie vs. Etta & Meghan

Championship Sunday Schedule

Next Up: Las Vegas Cup

Buckle up, Buttercups, because Vegas starts on MONDAY. Since this one is a Cup event, it’s a progressive draw starting with qualifier rounds for men’s singles, men’s doubles, and mixed. Broadcasting officially begins on Thursday with Round of 16, but keep an eye on PPA’s YouTube, as there’s usually bonus cam footage.

Grab your spectator tickets using the KOTC discount!

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