Johns Brothers Fall Short Again, Brooke Buckner Goes Back-To-Back at PPA Bristol

The PPA Tour stopped in Bristol, Tenn., this weekend, the first time for the tour in the Volunteer State.

Storms and weather created some havoc on Friday and on Sunday, but the tour was ready with contingencies and the tournament was able to finish on time.

The recently-renovated facility at the Bristol Sportsplex looked amazing, as it turned many tennis courts into pickleball courts.

Top plays and moments from PPA Bristol

Quang Duong and Christian Alshon won men’s doubles gold for the first time ever:

Kaitlyn Christian displays her athleticism and singles prowess in a match against Anna Bright:

I am confident that Federico Staksrud has THE BEST one-handed backhand ATP in the game. This was from a singles match against Noe Khlif:

Hurricane Tyra Black and Gabe Tardio teamed up for the first time and HTB played some killer defense:

Simone Jardim played on the PPA Tour for the first time in a while, and she had a great two-handed backhand rip here:

Federico Staksrud DOUBLE PICKLED Quang Quong in the men’s singles semifinals:

Top upsets of the week

5. Men’s Doubles - (24) Anderson Scarpa/Greg Dow def. (3) Tyson McGuffin/Jaume Martinez Vich, 11-2, 11-4, in the Round of 16. Dow has really perfected his cup dink technique and took out one of the highest-rated men’s teams in the world (the insiders will get the reference). The most surprising thing here was the scoreline not being even remotely close.

4. Women’s Doubles - (14) Judit Castillo/Ewa Radzikowska def. (3) Lacy Schneemann/Jade Kawamoto, 11-9, 11-6 in the Round of 16. Castillo and Radzikowska are Challenger level players and Schneemann/Kawamoto just won a silver medal last week in Kansas City. Castillo and Radzikowska fought their way all the way to a bronze medal match, losing 8-11, 11-7, 9-11 to Jorja Johnson and Vivian Glozman.

3. Women’s Singles - (14) Zoey Yi Wang had two big upsets:

Defeated (3) Lea Jansen in the Round of 16, 1-11, 11-4, 11-7
Defeated (8) Judit Castillo in the Round of 32, 11-7, 3-11, 11-6

Zoey is the real deal and is stepping up on the PPA Tour stage. She had a great run in women’s doubles with Brooke Buckner and beat Castillo – her Night Owls teammate – in singles. Beating Lea Jansen in singles is no easy task.

2. Mixed Doubles - (14) Jackie Kawamoto/Jaume Martinez Vich def. (3) Jorja & JW Johnson, 10-12, 12-10, 11-9. This match literally could not have been any closer. Jaume is established in singles – top 20 in men’s – and now is continuing to improve in mixed doubles. A great win over a top-three mixed doubles team.

1. Men’s Doubles - (16) Michael Loyd/Todd Fought def. (1) Dylan Frazier/JW Johnson, 11-6, 1-11, 11-9 in the Round of 16. Loyd and Fought seemed like they had great team chemistry and their games meshed well. I’d like to see them play together again soon on the PPA Tour. I’ve been calling for Loyd to get picked up in MLP Challenger Level as well – I still think this happens by the end of the year.

Major League Pickleball team medal count

Carolina Pickleball Club - 🥇🥇🥇🥈🥈
Texas Ranchers - 🥇🥇🥈
New Jersey 5s - 🥇🥇
LA Mad Drops - 🥇🥈
Orlando Squeeze - 🥈🥉
D.C. Pickleball Team - 🥈🥉
St. Louis Shock - 🥈
AZ Drive - 🥈
Dallas Flash - 🥉
Utah Black Diamonds - 🥉
Brooklyn Aces - 🥉
Las Vegas Night Owls - 🥉
NY Hustlers - 🥉
Atlanta Bouncers -🥉

Top storylines from the PPA Bristol Open

Brooke Buckner wins back-to-back gold medals in Women’s Singles

Buckner has back-to-back PPA Championships in women’s singles. The only other person to do that this year? You guessed it – Anna Leigh Waters. Buckner also has a total of three gold medals this year – second most to ALW.

Buckner is one of the best ball strikers on tour and continues to make a name for herself at the top end of the women’s singles game.

Buckner, the No. 5 seed, beat the following players en route to the title:

No. 26 Emilia Schmidt - 11-3, 11-4
No. 9 Lacy Schneemann - 11-5, 8-11, 12-10
No. 2 Catherine Parenteau - 11-7, 11-8
No. 4 Salome Devidze - 11-1, 11-7

The championship match was very entertaining and played indoors due to inclement weather. Kaitlyn Christian went up big and won game one easily, 3-11, before Buckner put the pedal down. She went 22-10 in the next two games. The final score: 3-11, 11-3, 11-7.

Buckner will easily qualify for the PPA Finals in December, as she is currently fourth right now, not counting her PPA Bristol points tally (1,000).

Ben Johns still has Fed’s number in singles, wins gold in his 25th-straight event

Federico Staksrud is currently the No. 1-ranked singles player in the world, but Ben Johns has his number. Johns is 5-0 against Fed in 2024, but because Ben doesn’t play as many events and has some early-round exits, Fed is leading in PPA Tour Points.

Ben beat Grayson Goldin and Tyson McGuffin on his way to Championship Sunday and looked in control from the start against Staksrud. He hadn’t played singles in well over a month and looked like he had plenty of energy and spark, despite having just lost his doubles matchup. Ben went up early in game one and never let up. The second game was more competitive, but Fed wasn’t able to come back and force a third game. Final score: 11-4, 11-9.

Catherine and Anna Leigh are still by far the best women’s doubles team

Yes, Rachel Rohrabacher and Anna Bright are really good. They just aren’t consistently as good as Catherine Parenteau and Anna Leigh Waters.

The duo of Parenteau and ALW is now 104-1 when playing together. They are 21-1 in PPA Finals as well. An overall win percentage of 99 percent and 95 percent on Championship Sunday? Not too shabby.

Anna Leigh and Catherine won multiple points from the baseline when Rohrabacher and Bright had the kitchen line. They won multiple points at the kitchen line by setting things up with aggressive dinks. They won points from the baseline by smashing and crashing. It doesn’t seem to matter what type of game they are playing, ALW and CP adapt their game to what is needed faster than any other team. They also consistently execute better than any team.

Anna Leigh and Catherine went a combined 121-40 in their matches, winning 75 percent of the points.

Rohrabacher and Bright brought a ton of power and consistency, but it didn’t seem to matter. ALW and CP won 11-6, 11-6, 11-4.

Ben Johns and Anna Leigh Waters are extremely dominant in mixed doubles

There doesn’t need to be a big story here: Ben and Anna Leigh Waters are the two best mixed doubles players in their gender. Playing together, they are by far the best mixed doubles team in history.

Career partnership stats: Ben and Anna Leigh are now 187-6 for a 97 percent overall win rate. Additionally, they are 37-1 on Championship Sunday, also a 97 percent win rate.

Ben and Anna Leigh played a total of 11 games in Bristol (four matches with two games and the finals went three). They were a combined 121-40 in their points this weekend for a 75 percent win percentage. Additionally, they didn’t lose one game and gave up nine points just once (to Fed and Rohrabacher). They even PICKLED Dekel Bar and Tina Pisnik to make the finals.

The duo continues to cruise, even while facing a new partnership in Christian Alshon and Anna Bright in the finals. They handled them easily, 11-3, 11-1, 11-4. If Ben and Anna Leigh are entered at a PPA Tournament stop, they're winning.

The Johns Bros fall short again; Alshon and Duong win gold

Quang Duong and Christian Alshon teamed up for the first time on the PPA Tour in men’s doubles, and the Texas Ranchers men didn’t disappoint.

As the No. 8 seed, Duong and Alshon had this path on their way to Championship Sunday:

Round of 32: Win - (28) Dusty Boyer/Naveen Beasley - 11-3, 9-11, 11-3
Round of 16: Win - (10) Brandon French/Julian Arnold - 11-5, 11-2
Quarterfinals: Win - (28) Anderson Scarpa/Greg Dow - 11-4, 11-0
Semifinals: Win - (6) Pablo Tellez/Jay Devillieres - 11-8, 11-8

Alshon and Duong caused chaos throughout the final match. The drive-and-crash strategy was in full force. They came out swinging and never stopped. The Johns brothers always want to slow things down, but they were never really allowed to make that happen.

Duong and Alshon won the first two games, 11-7, 11-7, while the third game was close. At one point they were down 5-8, but slowly started creeping back. However, the Johns brothers had a game point.

At 9-10 came the turning point. Ben hit an overhead to Quang’s backhand deep at the baseline and Quang hit a hybrid drop/drive a foot off Collin’s left hip that Collin didn’t even move for. Ben threw his hands up in disgust and they both put their heads down, which is when I knew the Johns' were done. Quang and Alshon went on to win, 12-10, securing their first men’s doubles gold together and the first of Duong’s career.