PPA Texas Open Shootout – Live Random Thoughts

We will have our mock draft up a little bit later on Thursday but you know we’ll have some thoughts on the action this weekend. We may be sticking with the live random thoughts for the time being though.
In one of the dumber moves we have seen, the streaming is on a one match delay. The PPA commented on this saying it is Fox Sports’ decision to do all weekend for better streaming quality, even though Fox is only broadcasting championship sunday (not sure what Fox as it is obviously not big Fox). People like to follow live sports not tape delayed sports. If this is Fox’s decision, was this discussed prior to entering their contract? Going on record that this is a bad idea (Edit: assuming it is not just a one time venue specific decision).
Sunday, October 3rd – Championship Sunday
5:20 pm EST (Gritty) – Match isn’t on until later but don’t write the obituary just yet. Simone and Lucy come back from 2 games down to beat the Waters. While the Waters are back to competing at the highest level, Lucy and Simone remain on top for the time being.
Ben and Matt won.
12:56 pm EST (Gritty) – Another Jansen vs. AL championship match, another AL 3 game victory. The first game was very close and you wonder how the match goes if that ends up Lea’s way. The 3rd was close but Jansen’s mistakes let it slip away. This is starting to trend towards a bit of a Ben and Tyson situation with the two of them the clear top 2 in pickleball for female singles but, right now, a clear 1 and 2 as well.
11:14 am EST (Gritty) – It’s unclear what is going on today with some of the matches not on FS2 until 6 pm EST, and whether those will be shown on delay.
Anyway, Tyson and Callie get a 3 game straight games victory over Jay and Jessie. Smith was so good all match as her hands are either the best or 2nd best in the female game. It’s a game changer for the woman to be able to speed up the guy and still be able to win a bunch of the hand fights. Callie is one of the very select women that can. They got a lot of net luck today but they were also just better.
Saturday, October 2nd – Gender Doubles
5:35 pm EST (Gritty) – Wilson and Koller with a stellar 4th place day. They are the giant killers this weekend with wins over Tyson and Riley and Jay and Pat. While Newman and McGuffin pull out a bronze, they barely squeaked by Yates/Frazier 16-14 who showed that they could hang with the best of them at least today.
The Waters are back at the championship Sunday thing as they down Parenteau/Irvine for the second straight tournament in 2 games. They’ll face off against Simone/Lucy who are trying to show they are still on top. The bronze is in a rain delay now with Stratman/Koop winning the first game 11-5 over Parenteau/Irvine.
It’s a giant day for the Rob’s though as they do get the benefit of Yates/Frazier and Wilson/Koller’s upset wins to be able to get to championship Sunday without having to go through a top end team. You only beat the team’s you play and this has got to feel good for a pairing that has been a tough out all year.
12:33 pm EST (Gritty) – Just as soon as we discuss Koller/Wilson, we see a big upset over Tyson and Riley in 2 games. Koller’s rise is something else right now.
12:12 pm EST (Gritty) – After being leaving Kyle Yates undrafted in our MLP mock draft, Yates goes out to prove today that he is not washed and is deserving of the #10 male selection in the MLP draft. Him and Frazier had a very nice come from behind win against Jay/Pat. When Yates plays that right side with patience and doesn’t get into a pattern with his attacks, he is still very strong in that role. We just don’t see him in that role much anymore. Frazier is a good fit for him with being able to be a more dominant player. They were able to come down a game and 8-5-1 in game 2. Their match against Nunnery/Cassidy is one I hope we get to watch.
Wilson/Koller also had a very nice close win over Jeff Warnick and Zane Navaratil. Thomas Wilson continuing to get some wins with his cousin, Koller, and we keep mentioning that you have to keep an eye out for him so long as he wants to play more tournaments.
Friday, October 1st – Mixed Doubles
3:58 pm EST (Gritty) – Huge day for AL and JW Johnson. They get through Matt and Lucy, then handily beat Dekel and Vivienne. They went down 4-0 in game 2 and then cruised 11-6 from there. They do get the benefit of the Simone/Ben withdrawal (not sure why but maybe Ben’s exam) as that was a match both of them looked discouraged in earlier in the day. Not a shocker with them on the podium but this podium is a no doubt shocker with all 3 teams on podium not in our top 3. Callie and Tyson were due for a breakout Slim thought and they did it this weekend. Fun day!
1:55 pm EST (Gritty) – First update of the day and so many fascinating results. Let’s start with the rough day for Riley Newman and Catherine Parenteau. Coming off their first gold together in Orlando, they lose in two tight ones to Callie Smith and Tyson McGuffin, then drop in the losers bracket 15-9 to Jansen and Koller. There’s more talent and it shows how hard it is to be the best all the time as Simone/Ben have been since 2020.
Jade Kawamoto had a solid day with Yates. After losing to Jansen and Koller, some good wins in the backside ultimately bowing out 17-15 to Dekel Bar and Vivienne David. Even if Yana Grechkina took down Jackie Kawamoto earlier, both the sisters are legit and this result confirms that. They just need to play more.
Another upset is Lucy and Matt going down to Jay and Jessie. I liked the upside of this team, but regretted my selection a bit after seeing McGuffin and Smith have their upset win. No longer any regret as they are playing on championship sunday and we get another new mixed final to look forward to. Mixed days are starting to get fun!
Thursday, September 30th – Singles
6:00 pm EST (Gritty) – Tyson does get a bronze and you know the man is never going to give up. He is public about liking the single elimination but he has had a couple of these days where you know he wished he had a shot to get back to gold.
Catherine Parenteau does get bronze and it’s really a good win for her after losing to Callie Smith recently. It’s not going to feel great for Parenteau having been so close to AL, but a solid bronze nonetheless.
4:20 pm EST (Slim) – The women’s gold medal match is set, after Anna Leigh squeaked by Catherine 11-13, 14-12, 11-2. It will be interesting to watch this match when we eventually get it on the stream to see what happened. What changed between the first two games and the third where Anna Leigh ran away with it. The Anna Leigh vs. Lea Jansen gold medal match on Sunday will be interesting, Anna Leigh ran away with it, the last time these two played, but Lea was talking on Tyson’s podcast about having more of a game plan, the next time they played, it will be interesting to see what she comes out with.
The men’s bronze medal match is set between John Cincola and Tyson McGuffin. Cincola reached the bronze medal after another loser’s bracket withdrawal from Nunnery. You have to tip your hat to Cincola who keeps getting it done in singles, as a guy who is over 40, it is very impressive.
3:15 pm EST (Slim) – The men’s gold medal match is set with Zane Navatril set to take on JW Johnson. Zane made relatively quick work of Tyson beating him 11-6, 11-5, when Zane’s serve and passing shots are on like they were, he is a very tough match up Tyson. It has to be a frustrating day for Tyson, to not reach the gold medal match on a day when Ben is not in the field. JW took out Rob Nunnery in three games, 8-11, 11-5, 11-1. It has been an impressive day for Nunnery, and will be interesting to see if he has anything left on the loser’s side of the bracket.
On the women’s side Lea Jansen, took out Callie Smith 11-4, 11-9 to reach the gold medal match. She will play the winner of Anna Leigh and Catherine, who are playing in the other semi-final.
I just have to say between the delay, and the attempt by the PPA to hide the scores, it has been a beyond frustrating day as a pickleball fan.
1:14 pm EST (Gritty) – JW Johnson and Devilliers are currently in game 2 on the live stream even though we know JW won in 3 already. It’s a big win for JW who has had a bit of a dip in his singles performance after the breakout at TOC. He’ll be favored against Rob Nunnery who is also having a heck of a day. No back draw withdrawal today for Nunnery but you have to wonder how this might affect his doubles game the rest of the weekend.
Did not notice this earlier but in another weekly edition of terrible PPA seeding, Anna Leigh Waters was not a top 2 seed in this tourney and had to play Irina in round 1. She won 11-1, 12-10 but not a fair match for either player to start the day.
Last comment goes to Thomas Wilson who has just beaten Dylan Frazier in the backdraw and FAD on the winners side earlier. Wilson is playing a bit more these days and is a name to watch if he keeps playing more.
12:12 pm EST (Gritty) – Tape delay aside, we still can talk about results. Rob Nunnery is a talented man and the fact that he can just go out and win singles is impressive. 2 game win against Spencer Smith.
Brandon French also beat AJ Koller quite easily and FAD won over Dylan Frazier. Those results are unlikely to impact the podium but interesting nonetheless.
Are they not updating the PT bracket/results on purpose because of this tape delay? Anywhere else we can see the live results?
It seems they are trying to hide it but you may be able to go to the court assignments section then click on the bracket
Very frustrating for the PPA to delay the matches and hide the bracket results. What the heck?? Not sure how you guys were getting those updates. Frustrated that PT.com still doesn’t have the bracket up as that is one of the things I enjoy following throughout the day. At least we have you guys 🙏
Very frustrating. Somebody will probably see this but if you go to the court assignments section when matches are going on you can get the draws. Also, early in the morning draws were available so don’t exit your browser if it shows tonight and you can keep refreshing
Thank you!
I think the importance of singles ability has been overlooked to some extent. It isn’t too difficult to imagine that there will be many 2-2 ties in these matches, with singles being the deciding factor.
You could be right, Denis! Our thought is singles should only be used as a tiebreaker between players when it’s close because you have to get to a tiebreaker in the first place. However, that is the beauty of this event. We have no idea how it is going to turn out and everything is speculation right now.