APP Tour New Jersey Open Preview
The APP keeps chugging along and flying under the radar in the hurricane of the Tour Wars. There have been a lot of APP events recently and some of their players have scored big in this whole situation. Not only have the more notable stars like Simone Jardim, Andrei Daescu, Susannah Barr and Rob Nunnery signed with MLP, but the lesser known players at the beginning of the year like Andre Mick, CJ Klinger and Allison Harris have also received major opportunities for 2024.
Women’s Doubles
1. Simone Jardim / Parris Todd
2. Megan Fudge / Susannah Barr
3. Alix Truong / Vivian Glozman
Parris and Simone are still undefeated at APP events in 2023. Is the rest of the field starting to catch up to Barr/Fudge? They were dominant as a silver medal team in the first half of 2023, but they have recently been playing closer matches or simply losing outright. This is a situation to monitor. Glozman/Truong double dipped Barr/Fudge last weekend and easily have a case to be the #2 team in this field.
On the Cusp: Christa Gecheva / Kelsey Grambeau are two names that are becoming familiar at these APP events, let’s see if they can make some noise together. Shelby Bates / Riley Bohnert both got pro contracts recently. This is a softer women’s field so we’ll highlight some interesting teams with newly signed players. Chao Yi Wang / Alia Brown both got signed to pro contracts as well. Chao Yi Wang is someone who has stood out in the limited we have seen and in her tennis pedigree. Jackie Urbinati/Kate Fahey got signed to PPA contracts. Urbinati is someone who has been around the scene for a while without going all-in to pickleball so we’ll have to see what these new contracts do for players. Hannah Blatt/Angie Walker are another duo that most people haven’t heard of that recently signed 2024 pro contracts.
Mixed Doubles
1. Susannah Barr / Andrei Daescu
2, Parris Todd / Hunter Johnson
3. Vivian Glozman / Rob Nunnery
It has not been as easy recently for this Barr/Daescu. There are still the pinnacle of the APP until further notice as you have to be careful gleaning too much from results of tournaments happening during all these craziness. Can Parris/Hunter find a gold medal at some point? Vivian Glozman is starting to see an uptick in her results, but this could be a stretch for her mixed results.
On the Cusp: Yates Johnson / Simone Jardim have to find a medal at some point don’t they? Alix Truong is playing with a ton of confidence recently and even though Andre Mick can be a little volatile, his mixed play is high end for this level when he’s on. Amanda Hendry / William Sobek – it was nice to see Sobek get a pro contract after not even putting his name in for MLP. Hendry is steady and can let Sobek work to make things happen.
Women’s Singles
1. Salome Devidze
2. Parris Todd
3. Megan Fudge
Devidze is back to being a favorite with Dominique Schaefer out of the picture. Parris is #2 because you don’t know if she’ll play. She may want some singles practice before MLP. The grinding Fudge is always dangerous in these APP fields.
On the Cusp: Amanda Hendry is playing the best pickleball of her life these days and continues to get better. Christa Gecheva is not known to be a singles player, but she did find herself playing on a Sunday two APPs ago. Chao Yi Wang has already been mentioned in this preview and it wouldn’t be surprising to see her in the match to go to bronze or better. Rachael James is back playing pro events and she has a pro singles podium on her resume from 2022. You have to wonder if James is kicking herself for not going harder on pickleball last year.
Men’s Singles
1. Hunter Johnson
2. Yates Johnson
3. William Sobek
Hunter has been close to losing more and you can only play with so much fire, but he is the cream of the APP crop. Less consistent than his twin brother, the talent is elite for Yates who is scary for any opponent on the APP Tour. There has been a recent dip in Sobek’s level and he didn’t show well at the Gamma Classic in Pittsburgh. He has had as high end results as anyone outside the Johnson brothers on the APP this year in singles.
On the Cusp: Ryler DeHeart finally got a podium in singles that he was due for after so many quality wins. Jack Foster‘s consistency is a problem for Jack, but his second half of the year results have been promising. Frank Anthony Davis got a silver at the Gamma Classic. Eduardo Irizarry is in the mix of all these singles draws lately.
Men’s Doubles
The men’s pro doubles draw wasn’t available on Pickleball Brackets so we don’t have a preview for this bracket.
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