APP Tour Los Angeles Open – Fantasy Draft Preview

*Please excuse the shoddier than usual fantasy preview. We completed the draft and written portion while driving to our own tourney

Another week on the California swing with the APP Los Angeles Open. We get some players out for these west coast tournaments that we don’t see too often. One of those players is Emily Ackerman, who is a name most people probably don’t know. We included her as one of our female Under the Radar players when we had that 2-part series last year. She appears to be done with college tennis despite another year of eligibility left but we’re curious if we see her on the scene a little more. Ackerman is playing with Lee Whitwell and Wes Burrows this weekend (another one of our Under the Radar west coast players last year too). She only has 4 total tournaments under her belt going back to August 2020 and she has not played a tournament since the PPA Takeya last August so we can’t expect too much this weekend. Regardless, the ability is there and in this field it would not be shocking to see Ackerman make some noise.

Slim is 6 up on the year after a win last week in fantasy. Gritty won the toss and elected to go first.

(1) Dylan Frazier / JW Johnson (Gritty)

(2) Jorja Johnson / JW Johnson (Slim)

(3) Jorja Johnson / Lauren Stratman (Slim)

(4) Mary Brascia (Gritty)

(5) Federico Staksrud (Gritty)

Gritty – Honestly, I just wanted to switch it up this week and go first. It is a bit tenuous in those singles spots to have to go there but I can’t go away from Mary Brascia after she looked like the better singles player than Anna Bright. It will be interesting to see whether she can bring it back to back weekends.

Slim – My number one rule is to always bet on JW Johnson, so I take him here with his sister Jorja, and then take Jorja again with Lauren Stratman. While I worry a bit about the Johnson’s being fatigued, I just think they are clearly the top team here.

(6) Anna Bright (Slim)

(7) DJ Young / Thomas Wilson (Slim)

(8) Anna Bright / Dylan Frazier (Gritty)

(9) Anna Bright / Regina Franco (Gritty)

(10) Susannah Barr / Etta Wright (Slim)

(11) Parris Todd / Michelle Esquivel (Slim)

Gritty – I went with Anna Bright in both my spots here. I feel like she and Dylan could give a potentially exhausted Jorja and JW a run for their money. The women’s pick was more tenuous. I’m not a long-term Regina Franco stockholder but in this field with other unproven partnerships I thought they were the 2nd best team slightly considering they have played together and Bright is so good.

Slim – I know Mary Brascia handled Anna Bright quite easily in singles last week, but I actually like Anna to bounce back and take gold this weekend. DJ Young and Thomas Wilson are clearly a top two men’s doubles team this weekend and have the talent to pull off the upset and take gold. Etta Wright is a very talented player and Susannah Barr is by far the top women’s partner she has had to date so it will be interesting to see how they do. Parris Todd continues to get better every week, and I will be surprised if she and Michelle Esquivel don’t end up on the podium.

(12) James Ignatowich (Gritty)

(13) Gabriel Joseph (Gritty)

(14) Julian Arnold / Hayden Patriquin (Slim)

(15) Parris Todd / DJ Young (Slim)

(16) Lina Padegimaite (Gritty)

(17) Lauren Stratman / Julian Arnold (Gritty)

Gritty – There may not be a Julian Arnold withdrawal this weekend but I am betting on these two guys bouncing back after an odd weekend at Bobby Riggs. Joseph and Ignatowich both losing to someone like Hunter Johnson is quite unlikely to happen again. I’m banking on Lauren/Julian figuring things out. They have a ton of potential but it may be Arnold needs more seasoning before they are ready in these deeper mixed fields as a pair.

Slim – Hayden Patriquin got his first pro medal playing with Julian Arnold last weekend, and I like them to get back to the podium again this weekend. I went with the upside of Parris Todd and DJ Young with the 15th pick.

(18) Lauren Stratman (Slim)

(19) Austin Gridley / Susannah Barr (Slim)

(20) Pesa Teoni / Daniel De La Rosa (Gritty)

(21) Brendan Long / Stefan Auvergne (Gritty)

(22) Rosie Johanson (Slim)

(23) Julian Arnold (Slim)

Gritty – Pesa and Daniel get legit pro results together despite their inconsistencies as a partnership. Brendan Long is a little underrated while Stefan Auvergne going undrafted in MLP shows he is far too underrated. Auvergne has a chance for some upsets in men’s and mixed this weekend.

Slim – Lauren Stratman tends to drop out of these singles fields but if she plays, there is a good chance she makes the podium. Austin Gridley and Susannah Barr have medaled in far deeper fields together so this feels like a steal to get them at the 19th pick. Rosie Johanson, is a relative newcomer to the scene, this is only her second time playing pro singles but she beat Jorja Johnson in NYC and played Salome Devidze very close, her first time out. We will be hearing more from her soon I suspect.

(24) Milan Rane / Olivia McMillan (Gritty)

(25) Emily Ackerman / Lee Whitwell (Gritty)

(26) Chuck Taylor / Rafa Hewett (Slim)

(27) Dylan Frazier (Slim)

(28) Lina Padegimaite / Stefan Auvergne (Gritty)

(29) Lacy Schneemann (Gritty)

(30) Hunter Johnson (Slim)

Gritty – The women at the end of this draft are not likely podium contenders but you never know. I only took Ackerman once in this draft even though I could have gone with her in singles. The gap in her tournaments is too long for me to believe a podium is in the cards. Milan and Olivia were both late MLP picks so it will be something to monitor how they do together against this level of competition.

Slim – Chuck Taylor and Rafa Hewett don’t always get a lot of love but both have shown this year that they can get results separately. Hunter Johnson is coming off a breakout silver medal performance last weekend, can he keep the momentum going this week?

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