PPA Takeya Showcase – Live Random Thoughts
The PPA isn’t quite done for the year yet. Some players aren’t available so we get to see some new teams for the second weekend in a row. Mens singles is always interesting with its deep field and stacked seeding. Mixed should also be more fun with the change of partners. Without the Waters, the run for gold is wide open in women doubles. Stay tuned to the blog for updates on how it all plays out.
Sunday, November 20th – Championship Sunday
10:00 pm EST (Waggish) – Tyson broke his paddle over his knee at 9-5 in second game!
7:30 pm EST (Waggish) – Singles: PPA singles is now 2 out of 3. Tyson wasn’t able to repeat the win he got over Ben Johns at Texas Open. Johns: 11-1, 11-5. This is only the 2nd tournament Ben has played where he only got 1 gold of the tournaments where he got a gold. The other one was Riverland, FL in March where he won in MXD with AL.
Today was the first time we saw Parenteau and Devidze face each other in a gold match. Very close 3rd game with some unhappy line calls. One of Devidze’s was challenged and held. Devidze balls kept going out after the side switch where she led 0-6. Devidze has 2 PPA bronze medals and now silver. Parenteau 8-11,11-1, 11-8.
7:00 pm EST (Waggish) – After the doubles finished, I looked up some history. For the nerds out there:
4 golds Newman/Wright against the Johns
7 golds Johns against Newman/Wright
Over 16 tournaments: PPA, plus US Open and Nationals:
7 golds Newman/Wright as didn’t play Johns in 3 tournaments
10 golds for Johns
Kovalova/Smith: 6 golds. Last time was N2Grate in October but before that it was Orange County in June.
It was interesting how PPA wouldn’t let medals be mentioned from other tournaments. But Koop managed to slip in that she hadn’t won gold in MXD at all this year. She wasn’t able to say she won gold in WD 8 times in APP tournaments, one of those times with V.David. So it was a real accomplishment for her to win today with Koller in MXD. Koller’s record with Callie has been 2 bronze (February, June) and 1 silver (TOC, August). He hasn’t played MXD with anyone else in PPA until this tournament.
6:00 pm EST (Waggish) – WD: David/Koop vs Tereschenko/Wright. There’s one thing to be said for the single elimination format. No team is double-dipping. Thus, you didn’t see the teams play each other in the winner’s bracket so it’s all fresh and new (ignoring past tournaments which doesn’t apply here anyway). I don’t think I’ve seen as many overheads from Vivienne as I’ve seen in the last 2 days. The aggression from Irina Tereschenko/Etta Wright was hurting them with lack of soft hands (high balls for opponents) so they started dinking more. Game 3: Irina and Etta got the lead 8-2. But on a side-out, Vivienne and Andrea got dialed in on their third-shot drops and were able to tie it up 8-8 but ultimately lost that game but not the match. 13-11, 11-6, 8-11, 11-7.
Fleming talked nauseatingly more about the great shots from Etta Wright than any of the other players. I’m assuming that is because she is a signed PPA player and Fleming is contracted to hype her as a PPA commentator. Maybe I’m being too sensitive on the issue. The new PPA policy “I’ve got you” has gone into effect. Players no longer have to ask any question about right receiver/server/court. “I’ve got you” ref will just tell you. It didn’t happen earlier in the tournament when one player unusually had to go to 2 questions to know correctness which is why I noticed it here.
4:07 pm EST (Waggish) – MD: Wright/Newman vs Johns/Johns. A well-known rivalry on Championship Sunday. This time it was Wright/Newman who came out ahead. 6-11,11-5,11-7,11-4. The teams know they have to keep the pressure on and with that comes a lot of errors as you are trying to press just about every point. In game 4, Ben was making the errors and never recovered.
2:50 pm EST (Waggish) – MXD: Koop/Koller vs Kovalova/Wright.
Game 1: Koller’s shot selection was excellent and well-timed. It won them game 1 11-7. We got to see something we rarely see — Matt Wright catching air on an overhead! At times, Matt seemed to get mesmerized watching the cross-court dinking between Lucy and Andrea and was caught unprepared. Game 2 was almost 11-3 but a side-out after 2 tries at match-point gave Lucy and Matt a chance to get themselves fired up and show some energy. So we got 11-6 instead. Game 3: It was Koop and Koller’s turn to make the errors. Early they struggled getting to the net, especially Koop. It was the window of opportunity for Matt and Lucy. They win 11-9. Game 4 was looking like game 2 when Koop/Koller got to game point at 10-3. But the side-out gave Matt and Lucy a chance to play catch-up with a 5 point run. Eventually Koop/Koller win 11-9. Well done by them in their first partnership. It is going to make Koller wonder about his partnership with Callie when he can get gold with a different partner – but they didn’t have to face Ben and AL, the nemesis of all the MXD teams.
Mens is next which might be good to get Wright while he’s warmed up. Koop will be back later in WD with partner Vivienne David. Singles is last and it looks like PPA has made it a permanent change to be 2/3 for singles.
Saturday, November 19th – Doubles
12:16 am EST – Another interesting day overall. Obviously, the headline story of the day is Etta Wright and Irina Tereschenko. We missed out on an opportunity at their partnership last PPA due to Irina having to withdraw, but it was an intriguing team at the time. Wright has elite talent and appears to be one of the few women out there who may be able to do more as a true left-sider. Irina played the right most of the day, which is where she is better suited at this point in her career when she is not taking as much court and can do a lot with that forehand roll. Cleaning up against Lucy/Callie and Anna/Parris is no small feat. Can they take down all top 3 teams with David/Koop tomorrow?
On the men’s side, the men’s doubles will be another rematch. Loong/Dawson could be the real bronze stallions as they pull out another bronze against Wilson/Koller. Thomas and AJ have been working a lot with Wilson on the left the past couple of tournaments, but it hasn’t paid off for them to make a breakthrough. They barely beat Patriquin and Arnold on the winners side, gave some real trouble to Matt/Riley in the semis and then lose 11-9 in the third to Loong/Dawson. Patriquin and Arnold had quite a strong day, ending in that 5/6th spot. Watch out for Connor Garnett too. He played with Kyle McKenzie and got wins over Tamanha/Ignatowich, Deakin/Pat Smith and the Johnson brothers.
Allyce Jones got some measure of revenge for Nationals today with an extremely tight win over Catherine Parenteau and Brooke Buckner that was streamed on a side court by Lauren Stratman. They won 10-12, 13-11 and 12-10 before going down to Vivienne/Andrea. They actually lost in the loser’s draw to Cierra Gaytan/Leach and Yana Newell, who have had a strong day together. They tuned up Schneemann/Rettger at 3 and 3 then went on a run in the back with wins over Callie/Lucy and Meghan/Allyce. Cierra and Yana end up losing a super tight one, 11-9 in the third, to Todd and Bright. Big time day for those two
Tough weekend for Parenteau, who lost her first loser’s match to Schneemann and Rettger. Gosh, Lucy/Callie do not like their backdraws either. It’s hard to believe this partnership can continue into 2023. They have not gotten the results after the first quarter of the year really, and things have been trending down.
9:12 pm EST (Waggish) – David/Koop will go for the gold tomorrow after defeating Jones/Dizon 11-2, 12-10. Jones/Dizon turned on the fire power in the 2nd game but their power was met by Koop’s equal power and David showed us she can also turn on the power. Well done by all the ladies. Tereschenko/Wright showed us their win over Kovalova/Smith was not a fluke. They win the first game against Todd/Bright 11-5 second 11-0. Etta was mainly on the left but Irina was not afraid to poach when needed. Their drives and hard volleys could not be effectively counter-attacked. Todd/Bright didn’t seem to have a plan if they couldn’t counter-attack every ball. I’m not sure I saw a single dink in the 2 games. New teams to watch on WD Gold Sunday. Nice!
7:10 pm EST (Waggish) – Wright/Newman had to come from behind in both games but they win it. 12-10, 11-7. In game 1, Wilson/Koller were already at 10-6 before Wright/Newman came back. To me it looked like AJ was over-thinking which cut down on his reaction time. Just play.
MD back-draw: Spencer Smith and DJ Young made a good run in the back-draw defeating Warnick/Burrows then Devilliers/McGuffin before being defeated by Loong/Dawson 15-10. Wilson/Koller play Patriquin/Arnold. Winner plays Loong/Dawson for the bronze.
WD: The women’s bracket has barely moved. For a 12:00 start, it’s going to be a long day until bronze. David/Koop defeated Newman/Irvine 9-11,11-8,11-4. In the semis they face Jones/Dizon.
6:00 pm EST (Waggish) – After one of the most bizarre interludes I’ve ever seen in streaming, we finally get to MD semis with Wilson/Koller vs Wright/Newman. Looks like PPA has decided we want to get to know Collin and Ben and are now doing promos/ads of them.
WD quarters: #1 seeded Kovalova/Smith were defeated by Tereschenko/Wright! 11-8, 11-5.
5:00 pm EST- (Waggish) – Johns/Johns defeat Loong/Dawson (5,4). Neither team pulled out the firefights which makes me long for a good WD. Where’s Bright/Todd? The only thing to report on the women’s side is that Brascia sisters retired 6-11, 11-4, 11-0 against Jones/Sheehan-Dizon. I assume that means one of them was injured. Parenteau/Buckner now face Jones/Sheehan-Dizon in their quarters. Whose resets will be better: Lindsey’s or Vivienne’s in their quarters. I’m not seeing any of the women quarters scheduled. So it looks like we’ll get MD semi’s then some WD matches. I know some people will be disappointed not getting to see Parenteau’s first match again Jones since partnergate.
3:40 pm EST (Waggish) – So far it’s been a boring day of pickleball. Wright/Newman into their semi’s with (3,3) quarters result. Johns into their semi’s with (2,4) result. Loong/Dawson win over the Johnsons (8,5) to face the Johns. Devilliers/McGuffin match against Wilson/Koller we did’t get to see. Wilson/Koller win it (6,5). Of note, DeLaRosa and Teoni forced Devilliers/McGuffin to 3 games: 11-9,10-12,11-6. Makes you wonder if Tyson or Jay are having any residual emotion from their Singles match. Next up is a MD back-draw game to 15. Then we may see some ladies matches before we see any MD semi’s.
2:20 pm EST (Waggish) – We’ve had a few rounds with 3 games already. The Johnson twins took Spencer Smith and DJ Young in 3: 6-11,11-6,11-6. Wilson/Koller took Patriquin/Arnold in 3: 11-5,9-11,11-9. From the camera panning the courts, this match was going on during the Johns brother’s game on CC. Johns will play Taylor/Frazier in quarters. The Loong/Dawson match against Khazaeli/Gilbert was very close first game. 12-10. Khazaeli/Gilbert were able to handle all the offensive weapons of Loong/Dawson and counter-attack back. Loong brings out the Ernes and Tweeners in game 2. 11-5. They’ll face the Johnsons in the quarters. Warnick/Burrows take down Patrick Smith and Steve Deakin in 3: 8-11,11-8,11-7 to get to quarters against Wright/Newman. Expect Wright to fire up his trash talking and Warnick/Burrows right back at him. Sam Q. could have some fun with this being a close buddy with Burrows. The only quarters we don’t know yet is who Wilson/Koller will face but expecting it to be Devilliers/McGuffin.
11:07 am EST – Lucy and Callie cannot be happy about their draw, with Parris and Anna in their half. Jessie/Lindsey are the 2 seed and Catherine/Brooke Buckner are the 3 seed, with the clear number three team in their half, Andrea/Vivienne David. The question for men’s is whether Ben can find a way to a podium for the first time this weekend.
8:15 am EST (Waggish) – 38 men teams. MD start at 8:30 PST, 11:30 EST. Streaming should start at around 10 or 10:30 PST, 1:00 or 1:30 pm EST. The only challenging matches I expect before MD quarters is Patriquin/Arnold vs Wilson/Koller. And it’s doubtful they will stream that when they can show Johns or McGuffin beating up on some poor low seed.
20 women teams. WD start at noon PST, 3:00 pm EST. We get to see Anna and Parris bringing the fire and expected to meet up with Lucy and Callie in the semis. Vivienne is playing with Andrea. Vivienne’s reset skills could be evenly matched with Lindsey’s who is playing with Jessie. But Vivienne’s 2 handed BH is more powerful. They got seeded #7 which seems too low for them but probably accurate according to PPA points. Catherine is teaming with the newly signed PPA player Brooke Buckner. They got seeded #3 which may be too high for them.
Friday, November 18th – Mixed
1:40 am EST – Anna and Dylan win the bronze over Todd and Tyson in 3. A good bronze for them. This mixed day was always going to be a crapshoot and that’s what we got. It was a mistake for both of us to leave Koller and Koop undrafted, which felt wrong at the time. It is hard to get a feel for players when they get locked into partnerships and there’s something to volatile about that Smith/Koller partnership. Koop is showing she should not be underrated and there’s more balance for them together. Of course, they got the benefit of the Parenteau/Johns partnership going really poorly but beating the Newman’s is no joke.
Speaking of the Newman’s, Riley was all over the court today and he sure inserts himself when playing with Lindsey. It was not enough but he looked very good. Matt/Lucy back to Sunday for another one they should have a great shot at winning. They cannot be written off just yet despite all the new talent.
What to say about sleepy Ben Johns? The guy does not look like he has fun playing pickleball these days, even when he’s winning, but especially so when he’s losing. What a contrast losing to the joyful Mary Brascia and fiery Julian Arnold.
10:35 pm EST (Waggish) – In the semi-finals leading into the bronze, we have Bright/Frazier vs Newmans and Todd/McGuffin vs Irvine/Devilliers. Maybe someone at the venue will stream them and/or the bronze and post later.
10:20 pm EST (Waggish) – Koop/Koller vs Newman/Newman. HIGHLIGHT 2-1 game 3. Just WOW! For most of game 3, neither team pulled ahead. Lindsey cross-court dinked a lot with Koller. I don’t think she liked the speed-ups that came from Koop. Shortly after the side-change, Riley decided to play left-side. But it wasn’t enough. 11-8, 4-11, 7-11. Koller hasn’t made it to Championship Sunday MXD since TOC in August. This win has gotta feel good for him. They’ll meet with Lucy and Matt then.
9:05 pm EST (Waggish) – No triple crown for Ben. Bright/Frazier defeat them 15-12!
9:00 pm EST (Waggish) – It was 0-10 in second game before Lucy and Matt got their first point. It was one of those games that all of us have where you can’t do anything Wright. (pun). It took 6 match points though before Jay/Jessie got that elusive 11th point. Jay’s soft hands with drops and resets prevented Lucy and Matt from getting a ball they could attack. But Jay wasn’t able to dominate in game 3 like he did in game 2. Lucy and Matt got too many balls they could attack or speed-up. Highlight rally 10-6. 6 attempts at match point. 11-8, 1-11, 11-7.
8:00 pm EST (Waggish) – Todd/McGuffin have jelled as a team like no other first partnership I’ve ever seen in MXD. It’s like they can read each other’s mind. I think he’s teaching her how to bark! lol Newman/Newman got into trouble mainly when Lindsey hit a hard and/or fast return shot before Riley had fully set up at the net. Lindsey didn’t win firefights against Parris but she did great with 3 ernes in game 1. Highlight 7-10 when Riley has to hustle to the ball near NVZ sideline then dash back to baseline for the driving smash coming from McGuffin. But it goes long between the feet of Riley! Game 2 Newmans dominated all the way to 10-1. But Todd/McGuffin weren’t throwing in the towel and gained a few points. 11-8, 11-4. Newmans face Koop/Koller in semis. Todd/McGuffiin face Jansen/Wilson in back-draw. Speaking of back-draw, Maggie is the one that defeats Mary. Tereschenko/Smith surprisingly makes it a close game with Parenteau/Johns 13-15. I’d like to see CP/Johns next match against Bright/Frazier if anyone could stream it!
6:35 pm EST (Waggish) – Koop/Koller defeat Brascia/Arnold (9,8) to get to semis. The teams were evenly matched and it felt like at any rally either team could win. I enjoyed watching how well Koller played with Koop. Irvine/Devilliers defeat Tereschenko/Smith (7,9) to get to other half semis.
MD back-draw: This could be the most matches Ben Johns has played in years after dropping down so early in a large field. But they are progressing through along with Bright/Frazier, Jansen/Wilson, Brascia/Ignatowich. The sisters now face each other in the backdraw.
4:48 pm EST (Waggish) – Gaytan-Leach/Johns vs Todd/McGuffin. Collin went over to the left side in MXD. That or he channeled his brother’s MXD aggression as they almost won game 2 against Todd/McGuffin after making a run from 3-8 to 11-10 all with Collin being on left. (11-3, 13-11). Newman/Newman defeat Bright/Frazier 7-11,11-8,11-5. I would have preferred to have seen that match instead of a second Todd/McGuffin match.The teams face each other next. Lots of Smiths out there. Spencer and Callie were defeated by Irina and Patrick 11-9,11-8.
4:00 pm EST (Waggish) *UPSET ALERT* Another aberration. #16 seed Brascia/Arnold defeat #1 seed Parenteau/Johns. Brascia/Arnold were amazing. They frequently went for the Johns backhand – usually shoulder. They really limited his opportunities to take over the middle. Solid playing as a team by them. (4,4)
2:50 pm EST (Waggish) – Someone to keep an eye on: Genie Erokhina playing with Brandon French. They were down 5-10 in second game against Matt and Lucy. They made an impressive run to tie it up. Matt/Lucy win the match but they must have been worried there for a few points.
12:12 pm EST – Let’s see if we can go one day without some controversy at a tournament. We had Jay Devillier’s hitting overheads on multiple serves and Lea Jansen/Salome Devidze disagreeing about a fan hindrance call yesterday. We have mixed starting at 1:30 pm EST today with a more interesting set of teams than is typical. Ben Johns and Catherine Parenteau will not have an easy ride as the #1 seed as they appear to have the more stacked half of the draw with Riley/Lindsey, Koller/Koop, Todd/McGuffin and Frazier/Bright. The other half features the 2 and 3 seeds, Matt/Lucy and Jay/Jessie, but it would be more surprising to see any of other teams in that half end up in the semi-final. It should be a fun mixed day.
9:10 am EST – (Waggish) Today, we’ll see some ladies in the 38 Mixed teams that we don’t often see at PPA. Vivienne with Yates Johnson, Andrea with AJ, Susanna Barr with DJ. Callie is playing with Spencer instead of AJ. Lindsey is in MXD with Riley but you have to wonder if her more relaxed schedule after her second child in March is enough when you don’t constantly face your opponents. 2022 tournaments for Lindsey are US Open in April, Orange County Cup in June, TOC in August, and PPA Championships in October. It’ll be interesting to see how she handles the offensive weapons of Bright and Todd if the matches work out that way. The Newmans have the toughest draw. Parris and Tyson are teamed today and at next month’s Hertz National Championship. Matches start at 10:30 locally and streaming should start then too.
Thursday, November 17th – Singles
12:04 pm EST – We have to provide a little summary to complete the day as there were two weird things that happened in the singles. The first was Jay Devilliers getting quite bothered by his doubles partner, Tyson McGuffin, and what Jay thinks is an illegal, sidearm serve. Tyson’s serve has been what some might call on the border all year, but for Jay to take issue with it now is odd. You have to wonder if something is going on in the partnership as taking an issue with the serve that will benefit you this weekend is a questionable move. It led Jay to start serving essentially overhand a couple of times. Dave Benz provided one of the most hilarious commentary moments of 2022 throughout the whole sequence as he either did not notice how illegal Jay’s serve was or he was scared to comment on it. Professional broadcasting at its finest. If we recall correctly, the PPA implemented a let serve replay rule for illegal serves when Lea Jansen had the controversy associated with her serve. Jay showed how truly ridiculous the rule is when he was allowed to replay literal overhand serves. You can see the whole video on our Twitter account here.
Waggish documented the Lea Jansen controversy below as someone yelled “it’s going out” while Jansen was hitting an overhead at 10-10 on Devidze’s serve on game 2. This hindrance stuff should change from the tennis culture of having to be dead quiet during points. Sam Querrey said there was no way that there should be a replay and said if it was called a replay it would be “one of the worst decisions in all of sports”. Hyperbole much, Sam? It was a long day for Querrey so maybe he was a little tired of all the pickleball by the end. We love that he’s willing to provide an opinion!
It was also an odd day from a playing standpoint. Ben Johns was on the ropes, down match points to Hunter Johnson in game 2, before pulling it out 14-12. Too bad for Hunter that he rolled his ankle in game 3 early and tried to power through it. He couldn’t move at all though. That has to sting as he had opportunities to close out the match earlier and who knows how game 3 would have gone. Jay Devilliers may have been frustrated by the time game 2 rolled around as he was up 10-6 in game 1 before blowing the lead and then he completely gave up against Tyson in game 2 after his passive aggressive serving tantrum. Nevertheless, we don’t call him the bronze stallion for nothing as he rode his way to a win over Frazier and then winning in 3 over Yates Johnson, 11-9 in the third. You can never knock the man for throwing in the towel.
Dominique Schaefer had a strong day on the women’s side as she almost took down Parenteau, losing 12-10 in the third. We have not seen Schaefer in a little while and the results today were much stronger than the last time we saw her. She has a really strong tennis background so we’ll be curious to see if she has figured some stuff out. Jansen ends up with a bronze, beating Mary Brascia 11-8 and 13-11.
8:30 pm EST – (Waggish) Just when you think the day will be controversy free, we get a big discussion at 10-10 2nd game. Jansen hit an overhead as a fan from the stands yells “it’s going out”. Jansen yells “don’t talk during the point” and asks the referee for a distraction call. Ref says she can’t make that ruling but Jansen can call hinder and it’ll be a replay. Salome does not agree and calls for head ref. Dave Benz and Sam Querry do not agree. Don Stanley comes over and decides it’s a hinder and a replay. Dave and Sam say that is a wrong call and would never be the call in other sports. Salome wins 11-9, 13-11. Dave and Sam also mentioned something had happened in Jay’s and Tyson’s match that needed a closer look from ref/rule officials. If anyone knows what that was, please comment.
7:40 pm EST – (Waggish) After winning game 1, Parenteau was taking a beat-down from Brascia until 0-7. A game of momentum. 11 points later, Parenteau is into Sunday. 11-6, 11-7. One question is answered. Dylan and Jay have started their match.
7:00 pm EST – (Waggish) We get Tyson and Ben for Sunday. Tyson defeated Jay in the semi 12-10, 11-4. The big question is if we get to see Dylan vs Jay in the precursor to the bronze. Or if we get to see the bronze against Yates Johnson.
WD: The top 4 seeds are into their semis.
5:25 pm EST – (Waggish) Hunter vs Ben semi: Dave Fleming seemed to think game 1 was in the bag for Ben when Ben pulled ahead. But Hunter wins. It was funny to hear. In game 2, neither could get more than 1 point off their serve after Hunter first reached match point. It creeped along with ties and 1 point leads until finally Ben gets 2 points and wins. Game 3: Hunter does a lunge at baseline for an ATP from Ben. He overextended and fell, twisting his ankle or foot. Score 3-0 Ben. Medical timeout to tape Hunter’s foot. On play resumption, Hunter was too hobbled to do much in game 3. 11-13, 14-12, 11-4.
MD back-draw: Julian and several others have withdrawn. Hunter should drop down to play his twin but likely he’ll withdraw.
3:40 pm EST (Waggish) – Dylan forced Ben to about 8 match points before Ben finally won game 2. Ben will get Hunter in his next match. Ben’s energy level seemed low but he may just have been conserving energy.
2:38 am EST – A little update today on the women’s draw. The PPA put out their rankings publicly that would have had Mary Brascia as the #4 player in PPA points with the women that have dropped out. However, when the draw was posted, Yana Newell was the #4 seed and Brascia was #7. As a reminder, the PPA is supposed to keep 1 and 2 seeds the same then coin flip the 3-4 seeds, 5-8 seeds and 9-12 seeds. This means Brascia should have been the #3 or #4 seed, but the PPA appears to have been trying to give more favorable seeding to Newell, who is their contracted player. This has now been adjusted to Brascia as the #4 seed and Newell as the #7 seed. If players were curious as to whether the PPA would attempt to start treating non-PPA contracted players better after the Vibe-MLP merger, nothing has changed yet. Do players remember this treatment when they are considering signing an exclusive contract?
In results news, Julian Arnold’s heater is over. He lost in his first match of the day to unknown Juame Martinez Viche, who followed that up with a solid win over Kyle Lewis to set up a date with Tyson McGuffin. Arnold has played A LOT of pickleball the last two months. JHe may need a rest. Connor Garnett gave Ben Johns a run for his money as he was up 10-5 in game 1 and 10-9 in game 2, but ended up losing both games by a score of 12-10. Garnett may have been well served to use a timeout either at 7-10 or 8-10 in game 1. Ryan Sherry having a bit of a day here. He beats Yates Johnson in 2 games to set up a matchup with Hunter Johnson.
10:45 am EST – A few women have dropped out of the singles draw, Irina, Callie Smith and Anna Bright, making the road that much easier for the top 3 players, Devidze, Parenteau and Jansen. Mary Brascia may be the only one who has any potential to spoil this party.
A more balanced men’s draw today. The Johnson’s always seem to find themselves on the same half of a draw so that could be a quarter-final. Ben Johns and Hunter Johnson in the same half. Tyson and Julian Arnold in the quarters is right there. Devilliers actually has the easiest path of anyone to a semi-final. A very big draw but not a deep one really.
