The APP Tour enjoyed a successful and dramatic weekend at the APP Newport Beach Open, with some new faces breaking through and others further establishing their dominance.
No shortage of highlights and results to discuss.
Megan Fudge gets double gold
Megan Fudge, back from her whirlwind Asian tour, earned herself a gold medal in mixed doubles and singles. She played mixed doubles for the first time with Jack Munro and let him play a big right side.
In the quarterfinals, Fudge beat her husband, Ryler DeHeart, and Emily Cederquist, 11-6, 11-9. In the semis they made quick work of a very good team of Allison Harris and Andre Mick, 11-3, 11-5. In the finals on Friday night on ESPN2, they beat Bobbi Oshiro and Will Howells, 11-5, 11-6, for the championship.
Fudge beat Courtney McIntosh, Yana Newell, and Kelsey Matthews in singles, all in two games. On Championship Sunday, we got one of the best and closest matches this year on the APP Tour.
It was an epic battle between Fudge and Kate Fahey. Fahey is athletic and has great ground strokes but is newer to the sport and isn’t really known for her singles prowess. She showed she can compete with anyone in the world this weekend.
Singles is played with rally scoring to 15 on the APP Tour, meaning you must win on your serve and by two. The first game went 22-20 in favor of Fudge. Fahey came out swinging in the second game, winning 15-12. In the last game, Fudge hurt her quadriceps and needed a medical timeout to get it wrapped. The match went into "overtime" and Fahey actually had three match points before losing to Fudge, 17-19.
This was an epic match and if you missed it, you should go back to the APP YouTube channel when it’s posted and watch.
Erik Tice
This was Fudge’s first gold in mixed doubles this year and third gold in singles.
Chris Haworth wins his fourth gold in singles
Chris Haworth is an ELITE singles player and has proven it repeatedly on the APP Tour. This is Haworth’s fourth gold in singles, which has him on top of the points standings on the APP Tour.
Haworth had to beat James Seagraves, Zane Ford, and Ronan Camron to get to Championship Sunday. Camron was the only one to take a game off Haworth, who ended up winning the match 7-15, 15-8, 15-7.
John Cangelosi, a lefty from Florida, has been making a name for himself this year on the APP Tour. He made his way to Championship Sunday for the first time this weekend but was handled rather easily by Haworth, 15-7, 15-10.
Haworth is cementing himself as an elite-level singles player – it will be interesting to see if anyone else on the APP Tour can make up any ground on him.
Erik Tice
Erik Lange and Max Manthou win their first title
Team Purple! Erik Lange and Max Manthou are very good together and are friends off the court as well.
"We’ve been training for six months together, twice a week," Lange said. "Max has a positive energy, he’s a crowd favorite, and it’s just an honor to share the court with him. Thank you to the APP and OWL Sport for supporting this event and allowing us to live out our athletic dreams."
Lange and Manthou had a very tough road to victory - three of their four matches went to three games. They almost lost in the Round of 16 to Ryler DeHeart and Eric Oncins – 11-8, 9-11, 15-13.
Next up, they beat Brendon Long and Stefan Auvergne, 10-12, 11-6, 11-5, and then went on to beat Jack Munro and Andre Mick, 11-3, 10-12, 11-9. In the finals, they handled Patrick Kawka and Will Howells in two games, 11-6, 11-9.
Emily Cederquist and Yana Newell win their first tournament together
This makes back-to-back women’s doubles championships for Yana Newell on the APP Tour.
The tightest contest this weekend for Cederquist and Newell was their semifinal match, where they beat top-seeded Allison Harris and Simone Jardim in three games.
Newell and Cederquist showed immense mental fortitude, losing the first game, 2-11. It wasn’t even really that close. They stepped up and won the second game, 11-7. In the clinching third game, Jardim looked like she may have hurt her knee and had to take a medical timeout. She didn’t seem to be the same from that point forward. Newell and Cederquist won that third game, 11-5.
This marks Newell’s fourth medal in women's doubles on tour this year, two of which have been gold. This is Emily’s second medal in women’s doubles this year.
Complete APP Newport Beach Open Results
Women’s Singles
🥇 Megan Fudge
🥈 Kate Fahey
🥉 Emily Cederquist
Men’s Singles
🥇 Chris Haworth
🥈 John Cangelosi
🥉 Max Manthou
Mixed Doubles
🥇 Megan Fudge/Jack Munro
🥈 Bobbi Oshiro/Will Howells
🥉 Jill Braverman/Eric Oncins
Women’s Doubles
🥇 Emily Cederquist/Yana Newell
🥈 Megan Fudge/Jill Braverman
🥉 Susannah Barr/Mari Humberg
Men’s Doubles
🥇 Erik Lange/Max Manthou
🥈 Patrick Kawka/Will Howells
🥉 Jack Munro/Andre Mick
The APP Tour is next in action August 28th at the Chicago Open. Additionally, there is an APP Next Gen event, July 19-21, in St. Louis.
