The PPA Tour is headed to Tucson, Arizona for the first time in history! The Tucson Racquet and Fitness Club is hosting the event. There are 22 dedicated pickleball courts at the venue and 25 tennis courts, which I am sure will be used as temporary courts.
In previous years, the JW Marriott at Desert Ridge had hosted one of the two stops in Arizona, but the PPA Tour outgrew that venue. Tucson is the beneficiary of the growth, as this is the first time pro pickleball makes its way to the states’ second-largest metro city.
NOTE: I will be at the tournament from Friday - Sunday - make sure to say hi, if you see me!
How to watch the Proton PPA Tucson Open
Thursday, February 6th - Women’s and Men’s Singles
- 1pm - 9pm ET- Championship Court - PickleballTV
- 1pm - 9pm ET- Grandstand Court - PickleballTV
Friday, February 7th - Mixed Doubles
- 1pm - 9pm ET- Championship Court - PickleballTV
- 1pm - 9pm ET- Grandstand Court - PickleballTV
Saturday, February 8th - Women’s and Men’s Doubles
- 1pm - 9pm ET- Championship Court - PickleballTV
- 1pm - 9pm ET- Grandstand Court - PickleballTV
Sunday, February 9th - Championship Sunday
- 11am - 5pm ET- Championship Court - PickleballTV
- 10am - 2pm ET- Grandstand Court (Bronze Matches) - PickleballTV
Weather Outlook
The weather forecast is picture-perfect! The only issue might be wind, but even that is forecasted between 7mph and 11mph, so shouldn’t be a problem on this first time tour stop.
Top Storylines
This is an Open level event
The third stop on the PPA Tour in 2025 (Masters & Australia), Tucson is an Open event, meaning winners receive 1,000 PPA Points in each event. This also means the draw is a “traditional draw”. Singles is Thursday, mixed is Friday, gender doubles is Saturday, and then there is Championship Sunday.
Quick Turnaround for the PPA Australia Players
The Proton PPA Australia just finished up on Sunday (Australia) or Saturday (USA). There are some players who played late in the draw in Australia that are also playing in Tucson:
- Alix Truong
- Allyce Jones
- CJ Klinger
- Gabe Tardio
- Hurricane Tyra Black
- Jay Devilliers
- Jessie Irvine
- Kaitlyn Christian
- Quang Duong
- Zane Navratil
The flight back from Melbourne can easily take over 24 hours, so all of these athletes are going to need as much rest as they can get before playing on Thursday. Of note, some players played in Australia and are opting to skip Tucson:
- Collin Johns
- Lacy Schneemann
- Tyson McGuffin
- Vivian Glozman
The Aussies are here
Coming off the announcement that they signed with UPA, Aussies Tom Evans and Helena Spiridis are joining the PPA Tour for the first time together in Tucson. Since they are signed UPA players, they are automatically going to make main draw, despite not having many PPA Points.
The off court couple is going to be fun to watch this year in the USA. I believe they will struggle early on in terms of being ready for the top level talent in the states, but they should get better and better throughout the year, with their reps against the best.
Let’s get into the action!
Women’s Singles
Top Storylines
- Some of the best women in the world are not playing singles - namely Anna Leigh Waters and Catherine Parenteau. I like this play by both of them. We are early in the year and no player wants to get burnt out early - conserving some energy to ensure you are healthy throughout 2025 is a great play.
- (1) Kaitlyn Christian has won 2x in the past three events, and got a silver medal in the other one. She is on a tear and is the favorite in Tucson.
- (5) Parris Todd gets matched up against newly signed (26) Helena Spiridis. Welcome to the states, Helena!
Predictions
- Semi-finalists: (1) Kaitlyn Christian, (4) Kate Fahey, (2) Lea Jansen, and (3) Brooke Buckner - straight chalk
- Finals: Kate Fahey wins her first tournament of 2025, over Brooke Buckner
Men’s Singles
Top Storylines
- Federico Staksrud hasn’t finished worse than fourth in over a year on the PPA Tour. That just sounds insane. I am predicting he gets upset by Christian Alshon in Tucson.
- Ben Johns continues to not play singles early on in the 2025 season. I believe this is to help him rest and recover and stay fresh for the entirety of the year.
- Gabe Tardio, who just won men’s singles in Australia, is not playing singles here, either.
- (3) Hunter and (13) Yates Johnson (twins) could face off against each other in the Round of 16 - that would be an electric matchup early.
- (7) Dylan Frazier and (10) Pablo Tellez could face each other in the Round of 16 as well and they are playing men’s doubles together in Tucson.
Predictions
- Semi-finalists: (6) Christian Alshon, (4) Jaume Martinez Vich, (2) Connor Garnett, and (3) Hunter Johnson
- Finals: Hunter beats Jaume in the finals, for his first win in the 2025 year
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Mixed Doubles
Top Storylines
- Can anyone push (1) Anna Leigh Waters and Ben Johns in the Arizona Desert?
- The fact that Parris Todd and Hunter Johnson are the 20 seed in an Open level tournament on the PPA Tour is preposterous. The parity in terms of level of play is crazy - gone are the days of a warmup match!
- New partnerships galore:
- Jorja Johnson isn’t playing in Tucson, so (5) JW is playing with Maggie Brascia
- (7) Rachel Rohrabacher and Hayden Patriquin are teaming up for the first time and I am looking forward to seeing this partnership
- (10) Etta Wright is now Etta Tuionetoa (pronounced Two-EE-oh-NEE-toe-ah), which is her maiden name. Jaume keeps getting better and better partners, and he is playing mixed with Etta. I think they upset (5) JW and Maggie.
Potential matches I am excited for
- (11) Lea Jansen and Riley Newman vs. (7) Rachel Rohrabacher and Hayden Patriquin in the Round of 16. This could get fiery.
- (8) Jessie Irvine and Gabe Tardio vs. (9) Jade Kawamoto and James Ignatowich in the Round of 16. Jessie and Gabe have two wins in the last six months on the PPA Tour. James has been going through a little bit of a slump over the past six months - can he get past that?
Predictions
- Semi-finalists: (1) Anna Leigh Waters/Ben Johns, (3) Catherine Parenteau/Fed Staksrud, (10) Etta Tuionetoa/Jaume Martinez Vich, and (4) Hurricane Tyra Black/Christian Alshon
- Finals: Ben and Anna Leigh beat Tyra and Christian in four games in the finals
Women’s Doubles
Top Storylines
- Until someone can come and take away one of their spots, it seems like every tournament they play in together, the (1) Anna Leigh and Catherine partnership and the (2) Rachel and Anna partnership, are both bound for the finals.
- This is the smallest bracket in the event - it starts in the Round of 32 and there are no qualifiers. The qualifiers got entered into the main draw to fill out the bracket.
- I really like the 7 seed partnership in Kate Fahey and Tina Pisnik. They did well by making the quarters in the Masters, but I think they have their sights on a deeper run this time. HTB took them out with Allyce Jones in the Masters, and now they could exact some revenge in the quarters against HTB and Parris.
Predictions
- Semi-finalists: (1) Catherine Parenteau/Anna Leigh Waters, (6) Andrea Koop/Lea Jansen, (2) Rachel Rohrabacher/Anna Bright, and (7) Kate Fahey/Tina Pisnik
- Finals: Catherine and Anna Leigh beat The Girlies in four games
Men’s Doubles
Top Storylines
- New/Old partnerships
- (7) Matt and Riley are back! The partnership that broke up a while ago is running it back in Tucson.
- (1) Hayden Patriquin and Ben Johns are teaming up for the first time and could run into Matt and Riley in the quarters.
- (5) CJ Klinger and Fed Staksrud are playing together for the first time as well.
- The left side of this draw is crazy tough - Ben and Hayden, Riley and Matt, Alshon and Andrei, CJ and Fed - only two of those can move on.
- This is the last event where (2) Gabe and JW play together - can they find a little magic before playing with some new partners?
Predictions
- Semi-finalists: (1) Hayden Patriquin/Ben Johns, (4) Christian Alshon/Andrei Daescu, (2) Gabe Tardio/JW Johnson, and (8) Augie Ge/Jaume Martinez Vich
- Finals: Big H and Ben beat Gabe and JW in the finals in three games.
