The PPA Tour is playing in back to back weeks this week, moving play to North Carolina. The Veolia North Carolina Open is taking place April 1st through April 6th, at the Cary Tennis Park, in Cary, North Carolina.
The venue has 32 tennis courts for use, and a roll-out surface will be placed over the top of these tennis courts.
Weather Outlook
It looks like the only risk of precipitation in on Thursday, during mixed doubles. This is the ideal day for showers, as there are the least number of pro matches on this day. Semifinal Saturday and Championship Sunday look like they are going to be pristine pickleball weather.
The only other note is that I have several sources on the ground in Cary, telling me that the tree pollen and allergy situation is bad. Just something to look out for.
How to watch the Veolia PPA North Carolina Open
Wednesday, March 26th - Women’s and Men’s Singles
- 11am - 7pm ET - Championship Court - PickleballTV
- 11am - 7pm ET - Grandstand Court - PickleballTV
Thursday, March 27th - Mixed Doubles
- 11am - 7pm ET - Championship Court - PickleballTV
- 11am - 7pm ET - Grandstand Court - PickleballTV
Friday, March 28th - Women’s and Men’s Doubles
- 11am - 7pm ET - Championship Court - PickleballTV
- 11am - 7pm ET - Grandstand Court - PickleballTV
- 6:30pm - 8:30pm ET - FS2 (Concurrently)
Saturday, March 15th - Semi-final Saturday
- 11am - 7pm ET- Championship Court - PickleballTV
- 11am - 7pm ET - Grandstand Court - Juniors and Collegiate Showcase - PickleballTV
Sunday, March 16th - Championship Sunday
- 11am - 5pm ET - Championship Court - Gold Medal Matches - PickleballTV
- 10am - 3pm ET - Grandstand Court - Bronze Medal Matches - PickleballTV
Top Storylines
Another hybrid tournament format
The hybrid draw format that the PPA tried out in the PPA Red Rock Open is back for the North Carolina Open. A quick recap on the new format:
Format:
- Tuesday - Qualifiers
- Wednesday - Women’s and Men’s Singles through quarterfinals
- Thursday - Mixed Doubles through quarterfinals
- Friday - Women’s and Men’s Doubles through quarterfinals
- Saturday - Semi-finals in all five events
- Sunday - Championship Sunday
Overall, there were a lot of positives from the format change and the PPA Tour wants to capitalize on those. It will be interesting to see if the PPA continues this format with Open level tournaments after the Major League Pickleball (MLP) summer break.
Anna Leigh Waters is going for #150
Last April, at the 2024 Fanatics Sportsbook North Carolina Cup, Anna Leigh won her 100th career title. This year she is going for 150th title at the same event.
Erik Tice
Since Anna Leigh withdrew from singles (along with Catherine Parenteau and Ben Johns), if she wants to win her 150th title, she has to win women’s doubles and mixed doubles.
A lot of withdrawals right before the tournament start
As I alluded to in the portion about Anna Leigh winning her 150th title, there were a lot of withdrawals close to the start of the event.
This is not an April Fool's Day joke
— Erik Tice (@azetice) April 1, 2025
Anna Leigh Waters, Catherine Parenteau, and Ben Johns have all withdrawn from singles at the @PPAtour North Carolina Open.
Carry on.
According to pickleball.com, the following players withdrew:
Players who withdrew from singles:
- Anna Leigh Waters
- Kaitlyn Christian
- Catherine Parenteau
- Alix Truong
- Mari Humberg
- Lingwei Kong
- Ben Johns
- Quang Duong
- Travis Rettenmaier
Players who withdrew from the event entirely:
- Gabe Joseph
Let’s get into the action.
Women’s Singles
Top Storylines
- The late withdrawal of Anna Leigh and Catherine really opens the field up and gives (5) Lea Jansen and (2) Kate Fahey an easier path to the semis.
- The toughest quarter of the bracket is that bottom left side - (3) Kaitlyn Christian, (6) Parris Todd, along with (14) Jorja Johnson and (18) Alix Truong? That is a very tough road to the semis.
- Brooke Buckner is playing in her home state and will have the crowd behind her. She has a tricky draw herself though, possibly playing Victoria Dimuzio, Len Jansen (also from NC), and either Zoey Wang (her doubles partner) or Salome Devidze.
- Speaking (16) Helena “Len” Jansen, she is coming off a triple crown at the first ever PPA Challenger Series event and is also from North Carolina. She already has one win over Brooke this year.
Predictions
- Semifinalists: (5) Lea Jansen, (6) Parris Todd, (2) Kate Fahey, and (16) Helena Jansen
- Finals: Kate Fahey beats Parris Todd in the finals for her first gold medal in 2025
Men’s Singles
Top Storylines
- I don’t think I have ever seen Ben Johns as low as the 4 seed, but since he withdrew, (5) Jaume Martinez Vich has a fairly easy path to the semis, with (43) Eric Oncins and (17) Zane Ford the most formidable opponents in his quarter.
- In the Rd 64, matchups like (25) John Lucian Goins vs. (35) Tom Evans and the lefty war between (29) Ivan Jokljevic and (34) Max Freeman, show that the talent level continues to rise and no one is safe.
- The last time (1) Federico Staksrud won was at the PPA Masters in early January. If he doesn’t win in North Carolina, that would mean he will go over 100 days without winning a singles event, which is a crazy stat. The longest Fed went without a win in 2024? 77 days between the Sacramento Open and the PICKLR Utah Open.
- If they both win, the quarterfinals will see a repeat of the PPA Red Rock Open finals, with (2) Hunter Johnson and (8) Jack Sock facing off against each other again.
Prediction
- Semifinalists: (1) Federico Staksrud, (6) Quang Duong, (2) Hunter Johnson, and (5) Jaume Martinez Vich
- Finals: Federico beats Hunter to get a win before the MLP summer break
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Mixed Doubles
Top Storylines
- Just look at the enormity of the draw. There are only six spots in the draw for qualifiers, which means there are 56 teams in the main draw in an Open level tournament.
- (1) Ben and Anna Leigh are back together, after Ben’s trip to Asia. They just won the CIBC Texas Open and Cape Coral Open after the loss to Anna Bright and Dekel Bar in Mesa. Can they make it three in a row together?
- (6) Rachel Rohrabacher and Dekel Bar are back together after Dekel just won the PPA Red Rock Open with Parris Todd - they are D.C. Pickleball Team teammates.
- (20) Jade Kawamoto and Quang Duong are newly formed teammates on the LA Mad Drops. I doubt they play together much in MLP, but it’s good to get reps in, regardless.
- (15) Hurricane Tyra Black is playing with Max Freeman, and HTB is great on the left with lefties.
- Parris Todd is not playing in this event after having just won the PPA Red Rock Open with Dekel Bar. She is playing singles and gender doubles with Lacy Schneemann.
Prediction
- Semfinalists: Straight Chalk - (1) Anna Leigh Waters/Ben Johns, (4) Anna Bright/Federico Staksrud, (2) Jorja & JW Johnson, and (3) Catherine Parenteau/Christian Alshon
- Finals: Anna Leigh Waters and Ben Johns defeat Jorja and JW in the final for three straight event wins
Women’s Doubles
Top Storylines
- With (2) Anna Bright back from the JOOLA Asia trip, she is teamed back up with her normal partner, Rachel Rohrabacher.
- (24) Kaitlyn Christian and Christa Gecheva, who just made the semis in Red Rock, have a tough first round matchup against (13) Mehvish Safdar/Lucy Kovalova.
- I really like the (4) partnership with Lacy and Parris. Their toughest competition in their quarter of their bracket is (7) Lea Jansen and Mari Humberg.
Prediction
- Semifinalists: Straight Chalk - (1) Catherine Parenteau/Anna Leigh Waters, (4) Parris Todd/Lacy Schneemann, (2) Rachel Rohrabacher/Anna Bright, and (3) Jorja Johnson/Hurricane Tyra Black
- Finals: Catherine and Anna Leigh beat Rachel and Anna in the finals.
Men’s Doubles
Top Storylines
- Despite three gold medals on the year, (3) Christian Alshon and Andrei Daescu are still only the 3 seed.
- This is a full men’s doubles field, and any one of the top 5 seeds could win it. I believe the best odds to make the finals is (1) Fed and Hayden because the way the draw works out.
- Locals (23) Eric Roddy/Jack Sock have a really tough matchup in their first round, facing (13) Ryan Fu and James Ignatowich.
- An intriguing new partnership to keep an eye on is (8) Eric Oncins and Dylan Frazier. They have a fairly easy road to the quarters, before the competition gets very tough.
Prediction
- Semfinalists: Straight Chalk - (1) Hayden Patriquin/Federico Staksrud, (4) Tyson McGuffin/Dekel Bar, (2) Gabe Tardio/Ben Johns, and (3) Christian Alshon/Andrei Daescu
- Finals: Alshon and Daescu beat both Tardio and Johns and then beat Hayden and Fed, for a fourth gold medal this year
