In a return to one of the most iconic and historic tournaments on the PPA Tour, the Red Rock Open in St. George, Utah, returned to the Little Valley Sports Complex.
There were plenty of great plays, storylines, upsets, and more dominance from Anna Leigh Waters.
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Let’s get into the action.
Top Storylines
Anna Leigh Waters wins her 50th singles title on the PPA Tour
It feels like Anna Leigh is invincible on the singles court. The last time Anna Leigh lost in singles was against Salome Devidze, on May 30th, 2024. That means there have been 304 days since Anna Leigh’s last loss.
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In St. George, Anna Leigh had the benefit of a smaller field, so she only needed four wins to secure the gold.
- Rd of 16 - Win - Marcela Hones - 11-3, 11-2
- Quarterfinal - Win - Cailyn Campbell - 11-2, 11-2
- Semifinal - Win - Lea Jansen - 11-3, 11-2
- Final - Win - Parris Todd - 11-2, 11-7
In all, Anna Leigh beat her four opponents by a combined score of 88-23. That is an average scoreline of 11-2.875. Which includes wins over who I consider top 3 singles players right now in the world, in Jansen and Todd.
It’s going to take some sort of miracle to knock ALW off of the gold stand this year.
Parris Todd earned “the cycle” of medals in Red Rock
Todd looked great all weekend, up until Championship Sunday. While she played great on Sunday, apparently blisters on her feet were a real problem. She had to take a medical timeout in both her finals in singles and mixed doubles to take care of them.
No worries - Parris just won a gold, silver, and a bronze medal.
We will start with the bronze. Parris played women’s doubles with Rachel Rohrabacher because Anna Bright was on the JOOLA Legends Tour in Asia. This was a first time pairing.
They looked great. On Friday, they only had two matches. Rachel and Parris beat Mya Bui and Millie Rane 11-7, 11-4. They then beat Lea Jansen and Lucy Kovalova 11-9, 11-4 to make the semis.
In the semis, Parris and Rachel just looked off. There isn’t much else to say about that. They lost 9-11, 7-11 to Allyce Jones and Etta Tuionetoa.
They bounced back on Sunday, beating Christa Gecheva and Kaitlyn Christian, 11-5, 11-4 for the bronze medal.
In the singles final, Parris never really looked comfortable and had to take the aforementioned medical timeout between game one and two. However, Parris really played well leading up to Sunday.
She beat Hannah Blatt in two, Catherine Parenteau in three, and then beat Kaitlyn Christian 11-1, 11-4 on Saturday.
While I am sure Parris would have liked to play better in the final, a silver medal in singles is something to be proud of.
Now, onto the gold medal.
Parris and Dekel looked like a team who has been playing for years, despite the fact that this was a first time partnership.
In the Round of 32, they beat Eric Oncins and Mya Bui 11-4 in the third. They then beat Dylan Frazier and Viv David 7 & 3. In their last match on Thursday, Parris and Dekel beat Fed and Etta 11-9, 11-9.
On Saturday, they faced their biggest opponent in Jorja and JW Johnson, winning 11-6, 6-11, 12-10.
The final went the distance late into the night, with Parris calling another medical timeout between games two and three. The final scoreline was 11-9, 12-14, 6-11, 11-7, 11-8.
I sure hope Parris and Dekel partner up again in the near future, as I think they will have great success together. It is absolutely mind-blowing knowing that this is the first gold medal on the PPA Tour for both Parris Todd and Dekel Bar.
Parris Todd is hitting a new peak of her play, both in singles and doubles right now. I can’t think of another player who is top 20 in every discipline who has had their star rise as much as Parris’ has in the beginning of 2025.
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Hunter Johnson was able to outlast Jack Sock in singles
Hunter had a difficult road on his way to gold in the altitude.
- Rd of 32 - Win - (30) Wyatt Stone - 8-11, 11-5, 11-7
- Rd of 16 - Win - (16) Cason Campell - 10-11, 11-2, 11-6
- Quarterfinal - Win - (9) Gabe Joseph - 11-6, 11-2
- Semifinal - Win - (5) Quang Duong - 9-11, 11-3, 11-8
- Final - Win - Jack Sock - 11-4, 8-11, 11-7
When discussing Anna Leigh Waters’ singles gold, I discussed her dominance. Men’s singles just doesn’t work that way anymore. The field is so good that no one can really dominate.
Four of five matches Hunter played went the full distance to three games. These are building block events that Hunter can reach back to mentally when he is under pressure later in the year.
Sock once again played great in the Red Rock Open, where he also won silver last year. Sock had to upset both (1) Federico Staksrud and (3) Connor Garnett in order to make the finals himself. Those are two huge wins for Sock to continue to build on going into the second half of the PPA Tour season.
Christian Alshon and Catherine Parenteau earn a gold and silver medal each
Catherine won gold with Anna Leigh in convincing fashion in women’s doubles. They beat Allyce Jones and Etta Tuionetoa, 11-9, 11-3, 11-8.
In fact, Catherine and Anna Leigh never gave up a game throughout the weekend. They beat their competition 99-47 in Utah.
Christian had a similar experience in men’s doubles with Andrei Daescu.
One of the most memorable matches of the entire tournament was the last semifinal of Saturday. Christian and Andrei beat Dylan Frazier and Dekel Bar 11-0, 11-1. That is a CRAZY scoreline for such an elite team.
In mixed doubles, Catherine and Christian played lights out throughout the week, falling just short in the finals, earning a silver medal. They breezed through their first four matches, beating their competition 88-31. They crushed the other teams.
However, they came up JUST short in the finals, losing 8-11 in the fifth.
Alshon and Parenteau definitely both had a great weekend, but probably fell just short of their personal goals going into Sunday.
The new hybrid tournament format was a huge win
In Open level tournaments (1,000 PPA Points to the winners), the schedule is a traditional draw - singles on Thursday, mixed doubles on Friday, gender doubles on Saturday, and then Championship Sunday.
In Cup level (1,500 PPA Points) and Slam level (2,000 PPA Points), the draw is a progressive draw - one round of every event is played per day. So Tuesday is Rd of 64, Wednesday is Rd of 32, Thursday is Rd of 16, Friday is quarterfinals, Saturday is semifinals, and Sunday is still Championship Sunday.
This weekend was a hybrid of both. Wednesday was singles through the quarterfinals, Thursday was mixed doubles through the quarterfinals, Friday was gender doubles through the quarterfinals. Saturday was a whole slate of semifinals and Sunday was still Championship Sunday.
This format worked out well for a few reasons:
- First, we got the best matches all weekend long
- Next, we knew matchups on Saturday, so the media, commentators, and operations team were able to create better storylines and prepare better for Saturday
- Players get a break, especially ones playing singles - they don’t have to play all the way through the semifinals on that given day
- This opens up more opportunities for a TV/Media Rights deal because the weekend has the semifinals and finals
In speaking with several fans and players throughout the weekend, I only heard positive reports from this slight change. I also heard that the format will be replicated in next week’s PPA North Carolina Open.
The first ever PPA Challenger Series was a serious success
In December 2024, the PPA Tour announced the PPA Challenger Series for 2025:
Erik Tice
The first ever event on this tour was held in Columbia, South Carolina this weekend. With over 300 players, plenty of UPA signed players in attendance, and Championship Court streamed live on the PPA Tour YouTube page, I would consider this a huge success.
The biggest storyline from the event was newly drafted Texas Ranchers player, Helena Jansen winning the triple crown. She won singles on Friday, gender doubles on Saturday with Pierina Imparato (Chicago Slice) and mixed doubles on Sunday with James Delgago (Las Vegas Night Owls).
More to come on this, as I will provide a full recap on this event on Monday.
Full Results
Women’s Singles
🥇 Anna Leigh Waters
🥈 Parris Todd
🥉 Lea Jansen
Men’s Singles
🥇 Hunter Johnson
🥈 Jack Sock
🥉 Connor Garnett
Mixed Doubles
🥇 Parris Todd/Dekel Bar
🥈 Catherine Parenteau/Christian Alshon
🥉 Jorja and JW Johnson
Women’s Doubles
🥇 Catherine Parenteau/Anna Leigh Waters
🥈 Allyce Jones/Etta Tuionetoa
🥉 Rachel Rohrabacher/Parris Todd
Men’s Doubles
🥇 Christian Alshon/Andrei Daescu
🥈 Hayden Patriquin/Federico Staksrud
🥉 CJ Klinger/JW Johnson
