Doubles day from the PPA Peachtree Classic saw another upset in women's doubles.
Jessie Irvine and Anna Bright did it again. They beat Callie Smith and Lucy Kovalova in the semifinals and will play in their second straight Championship Sunday.
Their semifinal match went to three games, and as always, was filled with fire. After splitting games one and two, Jessie and Anna decided to change sides moving Irvine to the left side. The switch was fruitful in game three. It led to an 11-5 win to close the match.
Irvine's forehand in the middle covers more of the court and makes them a better defensive team. She can reach more than Bright and that formation helps to take some of the pressure off Bright.
Jessie's instincts continue to be a step ahead in these matchups and will be tested again when they take on the Waters on Championship Sunday.
The Waters are back on track after missing the finals last week. They won their two matches today by a wide margin. The women's doubles match is probably their main focus for Sunday.
Anna Leigh has been dominant in both singles and mixed doubles so the real test tomorrow will be women's doubles. Irvine and Bright knocked the Waters out of gold contention in Cincinnati. But a one week turnaround does not leave much time for scouting and game planning. We will see if it's enough to get the Waters back to the top of the podium.
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Men's Doubles
The Riley Newman and Matt Wright's run to Sunday was the most interesting to follow. They took on JW Johnson and Dylan Frazier in one of the most anticipated matchups of the weekend. Prime APP vs PPA action.
Wright and Newman took game pretty handily, winning hands battles and speeding up at will. Game two was a completely different story. The side did wonders for the young guns as they pickled the 2 seed 11-0.
Game 3 was probably the game of the day. Wright and Newman came out hot and took an early lead. Johnson and Frazier made up some ground before the side change at 6. The side change was big for the young guns again.
They had the win in sight and the veterans on the ropes. A couple of perfectly used time-outs iced Johnson and Frazier and lets Matt and Riley climb back into the match. They fended off one match point at 9-10 then used the momentum from that save to win the final three points and the match 12-10.
Newman and Wright had another three gamer in the semifinals. They dropped game 1 to Tyler Loong and Spencer Smith and produced this highlight reel point.
The Johns brothers punched their way through their bracket fairly easily. Like the Waters, they have hopes for revenge on Championship Sunday. After their loss to Newman and Wright at TOC you can say the brothers owe them one.
The young guns ended the day in third place. This was their first PPA event together since June where they also landed in third. If anyone is going to break up the top two teams in men's doubles, it looks like the young guns are the best option.
Champion Sunday starts at 10 am ET. Tune in on PPA TV and Tennis Channel.
