PPA North Carolina Open Tournament Recap

The PPA Tour took over the Cary Tennis Park in Cary, North Carolina this past weekend. The crowds were electric the entire tournament, and the play was even better.

This was the last PPA tournament before a break in the action for a summer of Major League Pickleball (MLP). MLP kicks off the 2025 season in less than three weeks, on October 24th in the MLP Orlando event.

Let’s get into the action.

Top Storylines from the Veolia North Carolina Open

Jorja Johnson upset Anna Leigh Waters in two events, earning gold in both

I would love to ask Jorja Johnson this question - Which day was more satisfying?

November 24th, 2024 - the day the Dallas Flash won the MLP Finals over the New Jersey 5sOR

April 6th, 2025 - the day she won two gold medals against Anna Leigh Waters and her first women’s doubles gold on the PPA Tour

Sunday was special for Jorja.

To be clear, the day started off terrible for Jorja. In her first match of the day, Jorja played women’s doubles with Hurricane Tyra Black against 1 seed, Catherine Parenteau and Anna Leigh Waters. They lost the first game 1-11.

That, however, was NOT an omen of things to come. Instead, Jorja and Tyra won the next three games 11-6, 11-4, 11-7. That is a 33-17 run. Against the #1 seed.

Johnson and Black were on the offensive the entire time, relentlessly winning hands battles, and targeting Catherine Parenteau. 

In the semifinals, they actually beat the Kawamoto sisters (more on this later) with Jorja on the left. Tyra stuck to the left for the most part in the finals.

In mixed doubles, Jorja and JW had lost the previous 16 encounters with Anna Leigh and Ben Johns. 16.

The combined scores of those 16 matches was 499-293, in favor of Anna Leigh and Ben. The odds were very much NOT in Jorja and JW’s favor. 

I don’t know how Zane Navratil did it, but he predicted the upset to a T on X:

Gonna try my hand at predictions today...👇 @PPAtour @Pickleball https://t.co/517gZjCE0R

Jorja and JW ended up winning the match, 8-11, 11-7, 11-6, 3-11, 11-8.

These are two huge upset wins for Jorja, Tyra, and JW. All three should gain some confidence from these wins. The Dallas Flash teammates couldn’t be on a bigger high going into MLP Orlando in three weeks.

Gabe Tardio wins double gold in North Carolina

Tardio had a phenomenal run in both singles and men’s doubles in North Carolina.

Men’s doubles was the first match of Championship Sunday, and it didn’t disappoint. 

This was a battle between two of the best partnerships in the world, at the moment.

The first game was a little bit of a slow start for Tardio and Johns, going down early. However, they worked their way back and won game one 11-9. They won the next one 11-5. Hayden and Federico came back in game three, 12-10. Johns and Tardio were able to win 13-11 in the fourth.

If those scorelines don’t show you how tight the margins are in men’s doubles, I don’t know what will.

2 seed Tardio and Johns dominated the competition on their way to gold - never losing a game before the finals.

• Rd 32 - (34) Juan Benitez/Adam Harvey - Win - 11-6, 11-7
• Rd 16 - (22) Blaine Hovenier/John Cincola - Win - 11-7, 11-2
• QF - (5) CJ Klinger/JW Johnson - Win - 11-7, 11-6
• SF - (8) Dylan Frazier/Eric Oncins - Win 11-1, 11-7 (eventually won bronze)

Tardio and Johns have now won two titles in 2025. There is clearly a three horse race between Tardio and Johns, Patriquin and Staksrud, and Alshon and Daescu for the best men’s doubles team. This argument will continue to play out over the duration of the 2025 PPA Tour season.

Singles

As the 13 seed in singles, Tardio had some insane upsets on his way to the gold medal:

• Rd 32 - (23) Mo Alhouni - Win - 11-5, 11-6
• Rd 16 - (3) Connor Garnett - Win - 11-2, 1-11, 12-10
• QF - (20) Aanik Lohani - Win - 11-3, 9-11, 11-7
• SF - (1) Federico Staksrud - Win - 4-11, 13-11, 11-7
• Final - (10) Roscoe Bellamy - Win - 11-9, 11-5

This marks Tardio’s second gold on the PPA Tour this year. The first was down under in Australia in February.

While he doesn’t play a ton of singles, Tardio has one of the best singles cat and mouse game styles in the world. Don’t be surprised to see him earning a few more medals in singles in the future.

Of note, Zane Ford withdrew from the bronze, probably due to injury/prevention, so Federico Staksrud won bronze.

Kate Fahey had a tough road to her first gold in 2025

Fahey now has five medals in singles on the PPA Tour in 2025:

• Gold in PPA North Carolina Open - April 6th
• Silver in PPA CIBC Texas Open - March 16th
• Bronze in PPA Cape Coral Open - March 9th
• Bronze in PPA Carvana Mesa Cup - February 23rd
• Bronze in PPA Proton Tucson Open - February 9th

Fahey started playing singles on the PPA Tour in August of 2024. She is now solidified as the #2 ranked women’s singles player on the tour, eight months later. This goes to show how consistently she has been finishing.

While some players had the advantage of playing the “lucky losers” of the qualifiers, due to all the withdrawals, Fahey had no such luck. Instead, this was her road to the gold medal:

• Rd 32 - Win - (25) Genie Erokhina - 11-0, 9-11, 11-5
• Rd 16 - Win - (23) Jessie Irvine - 11-4, 11-3
• QF - Win - (21) Milan Rane - 11-4, 11-3
• SF - Win - (8) Salome Devidze - 11-9, 11-4
• Final - Win - (6) Parris Todd - 4-11, 11-9, 11-6

Fahey had to dig deep in the final, losing 4-11 and then going down in game two. She was able to will herself to the win over another tenacious competitor, Parris Todd. Fahey earned some revenge for her most recent loss to Parris in the CIBC Finals in December 2024.

Of note: Salome Devidze withdrew from the bronze medal match, so Lea Jansen won bronze.

This is the first tournament in PPA history where zero #1 seeds won

The PPA Tour has been in existence since 2019. Sunday marked a monumental situation with so many upsets. All of the #1 seeds went down without a gold medal

• Women’s Singles - Anna Leigh withdrew right before the tournament
• Men’s Singles - Federico Staksrud lost to Gabe Tardio in the semis
• Mixed Doubles - Anna Leigh and Ben Johns lost to Jorja and JW Johnson
• Women’s Doubles - Catherine and Anna Leigh lost to Jorja and Tyra
• Men’s Doubles - Hayden and Fed lost to Gabe and Ben

Will we see this trend continue, due to increased parity? I don’t think so. In fact, I would bet there are zero tournaments in the next year when all the #1 seeds lose.

BIG shoutout to pickleball superfan (and D.C. Pickleball Team superfan) Jake Gelvar, for putting in the time to double check this is an accurate statement

There were a ton of upsets throughout the PPA North Carolina Open

Notable upsets:

Women’s Singles

• (8) Salome Devidze beat (4) Brooke Buckner in the quarters - 11-9, 9-11, 11-3

Men’s Singles

• (20) Aanik Lohani beat (9) JW Johnson in the Rd of 32 - 11-8, 11-3
• (34) Max Freeman beat (8) Jack Sock in the Rd of 32 - 12-10, 11-8
• (17) Zane Ford beat (5) Jaume Martinez Vich in the quarters - 11-8, 5-11, 11-5
• (13) Gabe Tardio beat (1) Federico Staksrud in the semis - 4-11, 13-11, 11-7

Mixed Doubles

• (49) Parker/Yates Johnson beat (15) HTB/Max Freeman in the Rd of 64 - 11-5, 11-7
• (31) Klinger/Humberg beat (5) Tuionetoa/Ignatowich in the Rd of 32 - 11-4, 11-6
• (10) Dizon/Daescu beat (3) Parenteau/Alshon in the quarters - 11-7, 11-1

Women’s Doubles

• (6) Jade and Jackie Kawamoto beat (2) Rohrabacher/Bright in the quarters - 2-11, 12-10, 11-4

Men’s Doubles

• (24) Y Johnson/M Brown beat (9) Ge/Martinez Vich in the Rd of 32 - 11-9, 11-8
• (8) Frazier/Oncins beat (3) Alshon/Daescu in the quarters - 11-3, 6-11, 12-10

As the game of professional pickleball continues to grow, so will the parity. Soon, we will not be shocked in seeing Round of 64 upsets, like we are today.

Full Results

Women’s Singles

🥇 Kate Fahey

🥈 Parris Todd

🥉 Lea Jansen

Men’s Singles

🥇 Gabe Tardio

🥈 Roscoe Bellamy

🥉 Federico Staksrud

Mixed Doubles

🥇 Jorja Johnson/JW Johnson

🥈 Anna Leigh Waters/Ben Johns

🥉 Anna Bright/Federico Staksrud

Women’s Doubles

🥇 Jorja Johnson/Hurricane Tyra Black

🥈 Catherine Parenteau/Anna Leigh Waters

🥉 Jade Kawamoto/Jackie Kawamoto

Men’s Doubles

🥇 Gabe Tardio/Ben Johns

🥈 Hayden Patriquin/Federico Staksrud

🥉 Dylan Frazier/Eric Oncins