Pictona at Holly Hill hosted The Association of Pickleball Players (APP) Tour this past weekend. The action was jam packed and Championship Sunday didn’t disappoint!
The APP Daytona Beach was the second tour stop of the 2025 year, and the next stop is in late February at the APP Sacramento.
Let’s get into the action!
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Sofia Sewing wins her first gold medal in singles
Sewing (pronounced “Sev-ing”) almost broke through two weeks ago in the Fort Lauderdale Open. She came up just short in the finals against Megan Fudge in that tournament.
The Daytona Beach Open gave Sewing the opportunity at revenge, and she took it. The former pro tennis player made quick work of Shannon Pretorius in the Round of 16, 15-4, 15-6. In the quarters, Sewing had a tough one against Katerina Stewart that went to three games, but Sofia came out on top, 15-8 in the third.
Sewing being the 16 seed, faced off against Fudge in the semifinals. This time she was able to come out on top, winning 15-13 and 15-6. Sewing was hitting elite level passing shots and missed very little.
In the final, against Daria Walczak, Sewing won 15-12, 15-10. She is an elite level mover and striker of the ball and should be able to finish top 5 on the APP Tour in singles if she continues playing the event throughout 2025.
Megan Fudge and Jack Munro both earned double gold in doubles
Munro and Fudge earned gold in mixed doubles against Braverman and Howells. This was a revenge match from the Fort Lauderdale Open. Munro and Fudge rolled over Braverman and Howells, 11-2, 11-9 in the finals.
The bigger feat came when Fudge and Braverman teamed up in women’s doubles. The domination this weekend was astounding! A few stats for you:
- In the 10 games they played, they pickled their opponent in three of them
- The most points they gave up in one game was three
- The combined scores of their five total matches was 110-12. The average scoreline was 11-1.2
In all the research I could find, I do not think I have seen a combined scoreline that was more dominant in doubles. Ever.
Jack and Will Howells sailed through the competition in men’s doubles, earning their second straight gold medal.
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Will Howells earned one gold and two silvers
Howells was the only player going into Championship Sunday with a chance at a triple crown.
Howells isn’t well known for his singles play, because he doesn’t regularly play the event. However, that doesn’t mean he isn’t great at it. Howells beat Ammar Wazir, John Lucian Goins, Max Green, and Alex Crum, to make the finals. He came up short, losing to Haworth 10-15, 10-15.
In men’s doubles, Munro and Howells dominated. In the semis, they took their first loss of a game, losing the first game to Mark Dancuart and Patrick Kawka, 9-11. They went on to win game two and three 11-4, 11-5.
In the finals, Howells and Munro had two tight wins, beating Erik Lange and Purple Jesus in the tightest match possible, 12-10, 11-9.
In mixed doubles, Howells and Braverman made it to Championship Sunday, but came up just short to their gender doubles partners, Munro and Fudge.
Overall, this was a marquee event for Howells, who has made back to back finals in both gender doubles and mixed doubles in the first two events of 2025. Howells has medaled in five of the six divisions he has played in the first two events, with three of those being gold.
Daria Walczak earned two silver medals
Walczak has had a crazy good start to the year in 2025. Daria won bronze in women’s doubles with Kelsey Grambeau in Fort Lauderdale.
She followed that up with a double medal performance in Daytona.
This was the first trip to championship Sunday for Walczak in singles, after she beat Judit Castillo and Amanda Hendry in the quarters and semis. She fell just short to Sewing in the finals.
In women’s doubles, she switched up partners and played with Susannah Barr and made it all the way to Championship Sunday, earning a silver medal. The duo beat their opponents 88-38 in the four matches prior to the finals, never losing a game.
Fudge and Braverman proved to be too much though, in the finals. Walczak and Barr look like a great team together and I expect to see more of that partnership moving forward. Walczak now has three medals on tour this year.
Chris Haworth earned his 8th gold medal in a row in singles AND his first medal in doubles
This is his second gold medal of 2025 in singles. He is the class of the APP Tour in terms of men’s singles. The last time Chris didn’t win an APP Tour event was March 24, 2024, at the APP Miami last year.
Not only did Chris win again, he dominated the competition. In his four matches, including the finals, Haworth beat his opponents by a combined score of 122-76. He won eight games in a row, and averaged a score of 15.25-9.5. In rally scoring, that is a very considerable feat.
In addition to his singles prowess, Haworth earned his first medal in doubles with Amanda Hendry. They beat Koszuta and Gecheva in the Round of 16 in two games. In the quarters, Hendry and Koszuta beat a very good team in Sofia Sewing and Casey Diamond. In the semis, they ran into the buzz saw of Braverman and Howells. Beating Susannah Barr and Brandon Lane in the bronze medal match earned Haworth and Hendry the third place prize.
Full Results
Women’s Singles
🥇 Sofia Sewing
🥈 Daria Walczak
🥉 Amanda Hendry
Men’s Singles
🥇 Chris Haworth
🥈 Will Howells
🥉 Alex Crum
Mixed Doubles
🥇 Jack Munro/Megan Fudge
🥈 Jill Braverman/Will Howells
🥉 Amanda Hendry/Chris Haworth
Women’s Doubles
🥇 Megan Fudge/Jill Braverman
🥈 Susannah Barr/Daria Walczak
🥉 Kelsey Grambeau/Allison Harris
Men’s Doubles
🥇 Jack Munro/Will Howells
🥈 Erik Lange/Max “Purple Jesus” Manthou
🥉 Mark Dancuart/Patrick Kawka
