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ALW, the Johns Bros and Pickleball's Best in ATL for the PPA Atlanta Slam
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ALW, the Johns Bros and Pickleball's Best in ATL for the PPA Atlanta Slam

by Erik Tice on

Players and fans don’t have much time for rest as the MLP Atlanta event just ended on Sunday and the PPA Atlanta Slam is being played on Monday (qualifiers).

As the name implies, this is a Slam level tournament, the second one on tour in 2024 (the first was The Masters in January). This means two things: 2,000 PPA Points are on the line for the winners, and it is a progressive draw.

This event is PACKED with nearly every pro playing in it because of the higher point values.

How to Watch the PPA Vizzy Atlanta Slam

  • Wednesday - Round of 32 - 11am - 7pm ET - PickleballTV
  • Thursday - Round of 16 - 11am - 7pm ET - PickleballTV
  • Friday - Quarterfinals - 11am - 7pm ET - PickleballTV
  • Saturday - Semifinals - 11am - 7pm ET - PickleballTV
  • Sunday - Championships - 11am - 5pm ET - PickleballTV
  • Sunday - Championships - 2pm - 4pm ET - FS1

Weather forecast

The weather outlook for the week is not overly promising. The only day that looks like it should be 100 percent clear is Thursday. Otherwise, each day looks like there could be rain at some point.

Women’s Singles

Top Storylines

  • This is the first time since the PPA North Carolina Cup that Anna Leigh Waters is playing singles. She is the No. 1 seed.
  • There were 28 women in the qualifier on Monday, with both Christine Maddox and Kate Fahey making it through the qualifying round to the main draw.
  • I see a lot of upsets happening in the women’s singles draw, with only Anna Leigh making it into the semifinals out of the top four seeds.

Players to Watch

  • No. 31 Mari Humberg – A good singles player who showcased that in MLP Atlanta, but hasn’t played singles much.
  • No. 25 Alix Truong – Alix has some very good recent results, but is newer to the PPA Tour - she could make a run.
  • No. 42 Amanda Hendry – The lefty just won the APP Cincinnati for her first win on a tour.
  • No. 35 Shelby Bates – Shelby is coming off a fourth-place finish at APP Cincinnati and has the game to start racking up wins.

Predictions

  • Semifinalists: No. 1 Anna Leigh Waters, No. 5 Judit Castillo, No. 9 Lina Padegimaite, No. 11 Kaitlyn Christian.
  • Finals: Anna Leigh defeats Kaitlyn Christian in the finals to win her first gold in over a month.

Men’s Singles

Top Storylines

  • There were over 100 pro qualifiers in men’s singles - for eight spots.
  • Ben Johns hasn’t won a gold medal in over a month in men’s singles.
  • Tyson McGuffin is the No. 4 seed, but hasn’t won a medal on tour in 2024 - he got fourth-place twice - is Atlanta the tournament he breaks through?
  • Can Federico Staksrud make it 10-for-10 making it to Championship Sunday? I say no - Jaume Martinez Vich will break Fed’s streak.

Players to Watch

  • Men’s singles is absolutely stacked at this tournament, so I believe their will be a ton of upsets.
  • No. 26 Donald Young – Young made a fourth-place run at the Houston Open a month ago - can he find some more magic?
  • No. 24 Yates Johnson – Johnson is a really good player and he would face Julian Arnold in the second round. I think that will be a tough matchup for Arnold.

Predictions

  • Semifinalists: No. 7 Jaume Martinez Vich, No. 5 Christian Alshon, No. 2 Ben Johns, No. 24 Yates Johnson
  • Finals: Ben Johns beats JMV in the finals for gold.

Mixed Doubles

Top Storylines

  • There were over 50 pro qualifiers in mixed doubles on Monday.
    • Some mixed doubles names that made it through:
      • Kate Fahey/AJ Koller
      • Bobbi Oshiro/Todd Fought
      • Mari Humberg/Tammy Emmrich
      • CJ Klinger/Jill Braverman
  • It feels like a lifetime since all of the top seeds played in a tournament together – Ben and Anna Leigh, Thomas and Viv, Anna and James, and the Johnson siblings are the top four seeds.

New Partnerships to Watch

  • No. 32 Kaitlyn Christian/DJ Young – This SoCal team could be great – they are both very streaky.
  • No. 6 Gabe Tardio/Jessie Irvine – Jessie is one of the most consistent players on tour and Gabe is one of the most chaotic – love this pairing.
  • No. 7 Lacy Schneemann/Tyson McGuffin – Rumor has it Tyson and Dizon may be done, so McGuffin picks up Lacy – I like this for both of them.
  • No. 13 Meghan Dizon/Andrei Daescu – Speaking of Meghan, this pairing could also be really good – hopefully Dizon is able to recuperate over the couple of days she has between events.
  • No. 19 Vivian Glozman/Christian Alshon – Talk about a team loaded with firepower, this team could make a deep run.

Predictions

  • Semifinalists: No. 1 ALW/Ben Johns, No. 11 Hurricane Tyra Black/Dylan Frazier, No. 2 Vivienne David/Thomas Wilson, No. 10 Lea Jansen/Hayden Patriquin
  • Finals: Ben and Anna Leigh beat Jansen and Patriquin in the finals for gold.

Women’s Doubles

Top Storylines

  • The first tournament together for Catherine and Anna Leigh in over a month – will the rest pay off in Atlanta?
  • No. 14 Alex and Angie Walker have been making a name for themselves over the past couple of months – so much so that they got a first-round bye. The problem with that? They are set to play Anna Leigh and Catherine in the Round of 16
  • No. 10 Lacy Schneemann and Vivian Glozman are playing together again (they got a silver medal together in LA) – can they find the fire again?

New Partnerships to Watch

  • There are so many new partnerships - PPA Atlanta seems to be a tournament where new partnerships are starting to form.
  • No. 4 seed Lea Jansen/Callie Smith are playing together after the breakup with Lucy. This is interesting because Lea hasn’t loved some of Callie’s line calls over the past couple of months.
  • No. 5 seed Hurricane Tyra Black/Vivienne David are teamed up and could be a real force.
  • No. 6 Lucy Kovalova/Parris Todd are playing together because it seems Lucy and Callie broke up – I wonder who will play the left – I would assume Parris so she can get more comfortable there in MLP.
  • No. 28 Kate Fahey/Kaitlyn Christian are teamed up – I LOVE this pairing. Christian likes to get big in women’s doubles and Fahey just played with Anna Bright.

Predictions

  • Semifinalists: No. 1 ALW and Catherine Parenteau, No. 11 Mary and Maggie Brascia, No. 2 Rachel Rohrabacher and Anna Bright, No. 7 Tina Pisnik and Jessie Irvine
  • Finals: ALW and Catherine beat Rachel and Anna in four games for the gold medal.

Men’s Doubles

Top Storylines

  • Ben and Collin are coming off a loss in PPA Red Rock to Andrei Daescu and Gabe Tardio, their second one in 2024 – if both get that far, the Johns brothers could get revenge in the quarterfinals.
  • Fed and Pablo have officially broken up – Fed is playing with Matt Wright as the No. 3 seed and Pablo is playing with James Ignatowich as the No. 4 seed.
  • No. 10 Hunter Johnson and Thomas Wilson are playing together in a PPA event, hoping to help make their MLP team – the LA Mad Drops – stronger.

New Partnerships to Watch

  • No. 14 Tyler Loong/Patrick Kawka make an extremely fun pairing - they were college roommates at BYU and both have great drives and overheads – don’t expect much dinking here.
  • No. 17 Travis Rettenmaier/Roscoe Bellamy make for an extremely tall and long-reach pairing. 
  • No. 23 John Cincola/Michael Loyd make a really fun partnership that could definitely make some noise
  • No. 29 Will Howells/CJ Klinger aren’t new, but they are new on the PPA Tour. The pair won the APP Punta Gorda early in the year and are a real threat

Predictions

  • Semifinalists: No. 1 Ben and Collin Johns, No. 10 Hunter Johnson and Thomas Wilson, No. 2 Dylan Frazier and JW Johnson, No. 4 Pablo Tellez and James Ignatowich
  • Finals: Ben and Collin Johns beat Pablo and James in the finals for gold

Erik Tice

Erik Tice

Erik produces content for The Dink related to pro and collegiate pickleball. He is an avid watcher of pickleball and became passionate about the sport in early 2022.

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