OVERALL TOP 5:
- VIVA LAS VEGAS: Waters, B. Johns, Parenteau, Alshon, and Buckner among the many players returning to the draw after sitting out Salt Lake City.
- INSIDE INFORMATION: Playing indoors at the beautiful Fontainebleau Hotel’s Royal Ballroom (100,000+ square feet transformed into a pickleball mecca).
- LET IT RIDE: Last of the August gauntlet – who will ride the wave of confidence gained in multiple tournaments?
- DOUBLE DOWN: Gabe Tardio rolls into Vegas after winning men’s and mixed doubles in SLC.
- PROGRESSIVE JACKPOT: 1,500 points for the winners and all disciplines are played each day.
VENUE/TOURNEY/TV:
- Event #17 of the year and first of two stops in Vegas. This one on the strip.
- First Carvana PPA Tour event at Fontainebleau Hotel, so no defending champions.
- Broadcast start times are 11am Pacific Wednesday through Sunday.
- National coverage includes FS2 and Tennis Channel.
- Full coverage on Pickleball TV (Prime Video, Roku, Samsung TV Plus, LG, and many more).
WOMEN’S SINGLES:
- AL Waters (1) is back in singles after sitting out singles in KC and TN and skipping the Utah event.
- Kate Fahey (17) riding the high of a victory in SLC.
- Kaitlyn Christian (7) reached her third final in Utah but came up just short.
- WATCH OUT FOR: Brooke Buckner (4) – won back-to-back in KC and TN then took Utah off – red hot.
MEN’S SINGLES:
- Staksrud (1) so good on Sundays against the field (except Ben). Won convincingly over Garnett in 2 straight in the SLC final.
- Ben Johns is in the doubles draws, but not playing singles.
- Quang Duong (5) – jets to Mumbai last week, wins pro singles, now jets to Vegas looking for gold.
- Sherry (24) vs. Ge (42) will actually happen in Vegas – look out for the Sher Bear in sin city.
- WATCH OUT FOR: Gabe Tardio (19) vs. Hayden Patriquin (15), potentially Shocking round of 32 match.
MIXED DOUBLES:
- Waters and Johns (1) are back and had won 6 events in a row before sitting out Utah.
- Bright and Alshon (2) – made the final in their debut in TN, can they do it again?
- Wright and Kovalova (14) struggling in ’24 – do they have a Vegas run this week?
- New/old partnership: Newman and Parenteau (6) are back together – can they restore the old magic?
- WATCH OUT FOR: Ignatowich and Glozman (4) – team tall is very dangerous.
WOMEN’S DOUBLES:
- ALW and Parenteau (1) are the most dominant team in pickle: over 100 wins and 1 loss.
- Girlies not playing together: Bright/Pisnik (2) and Rohrabacher/J.Johnson (4) – which of these teams catches fire? (Bright entered the tourney late, thus this partner situation).
- Can Wright and Dizon (3) build on their bronze medal performance from their home state?
- WATCH OUT FOR: Black and Todd (7) – athletic, dangerous team looking to reach the podium.
MEN’S DOUBLES:
- Johnson and Frazier in a mini drought, missing Sunday in two straight as the top seed.
- Tardio and Daescu (9) finally pay off “giant-killing” upsets with a gold win in Utah and are brimming with confidence.
- Ignatowich/Freeman (12) Who?: Max Freeman is Jimmy’s coach and fellow Vandy Commodore.
- WATCH OUT FOR: Patriquin and Tellez (4) – had a match point to knock out Tardio and Daescu in a Salt Lake City semifinal thriller – watch out as these two seek to take the top spot in Vegas.
The post STORYLINES FOR THE LAS VEGAS PICKLEBALL CUP appeared first on PPA Tour.
