The PPA Tour finals began Wednesday morning. The top professionals in the PPA rankings will battle out in San Clemente this week for a shot at the year end finals crown. Players are split up into two pools, the ATP pool or the Erne pool. Individuals or teams will compete in a progressive format across three days before we get to the semifinals on Saturday and finals on Sunday. Let’s breakdown what happened on day one.
Men’s Singles: Quang Duong starts strong
Quang Duong is in the Erne pool with Connor Garnett, Ben Johns and Tyson McGuffin. He took care of business, taking down Garnett in a tight three game battle out on grandstand. Meanwhile, the veteran Tyson McGuffin upset Ben Johns in two tight games which puts pressure on Johns to win his next two matches if he wants to advance. In the other pool Federico Staksrud and Hunter Johnson, the favorites to advance, each won in two games over Dylan Frazier and Jaume Martinez Vich.
Women’s Singles: Brascia takes down Johnson
Mary Brascia was a late add to the singles field this week as Lea Jansen was unable to compete. Mary looked to be in top form Wednesday, taking full advantage of the opportunity in her backyard, taking down Jorja Johnson 11-1, 11-9 in the Erne Pool. Catherine Parenteau fell to Kaitlyn Christian in three tight games in the other pool play match. In the ATP pool. Anna Leigh Waters defeated Lacy Schneemann in two games and Parris Todd defeated Kate Fahey in three games.
Mixed Doubles: Top seeds strong out of the gate
The top four seeds really came out firing early on Wednesday, dropping zero games across the board. Anna Leigh Waters/Ben Johns took down James Ignatowich/Meghan Dizon 11-5, 11-7. The Johnson siblings defeated Dekel Bar/Tina Pisnik 11-3, 11-6. Anna Bright/Gabe Tardio made quick work of Riley Newman/Jessie Irvine 11-1, 11-7. Last but not least Christian Alshon/Catherine Parenteau beat Federico Staksrud/Rachel Rohrabacher 11-3, 11-1. We’ll see if the underdogs can bounce back on Thursday.
Men’s Doubles: New partnerships put to the test early
JW Johnson and Dylan Frazier are testing out new partnerships this week. JW Johnson is teaming with Gabe Tardio but they got off to a slow start Wednesday, losing to Dekel Bar/Christian Alshon 11-1, 11-7. Dylan Frazier is playing the left with Pablo Tellez and they fell to Tyson McGuffin/Andrei Daescu in three games.The hottest team on the PPA Tour of late Federico Staksrud/Hayden Patriquin defeated James Ignatowich/Matt Wright in three games. The Johns brothers took down Riley Newman/Jaume Martinez Vich 11-3, 11-9.
Women’s Doubles: Can anyone break through the top 2?
Anna Leigh Waters/Catherine Parenteau cruised against Meghan Dizon/Mary Brascia in their opening pool play match. Anna Bright/Rachel Rohrabacher did as well over Lucy Kovalova/Callie Smith opening up the match winning game one 11-0. We’ll see if any other team can get into the mix this week. Tina Pisnik/Parris Todd opened with a win over Jorja Johnson/Lacy Schneemann. Mari Humberg/Jessie Irvine also notched a win over Hurricane Tyra Black/Allyce Jones.
