STORYLINES FOR THE CIBC ATLANTA SLAM PRESENTED BY VIZZY 

OVERALL TOP 5:

• SLAM THE DOOR: One of just 4 Slams on the season with 2,000 points awarded to the winners. 
• ATL 2.0: Playing at the beautiful Lifetime Peachtree Corners for the 2^nd time in 2024 (original location, the Cincinnati Open tennis venue, is currently undergoing extensive, campus-wide renovations).
• MAJOR LEAGUE INFLUENCE: Many doubles teams are looking to find chemistry on the Carvana PPA Tour with their MLP partners.
• THE EYE TEST: The Carvana PPA Tour returns to the national spotlight on CBS from 1-3PM Eastern on Saturday, September 14. 
• SO MUCH PROGRESS: Packed draws in all disciplines with the progression draw: one round per bracket will be played each day.  

VENUE/TOURNEY/TV:

• Event #18 of the year and second trip to Georgia.  
• Defending medalists listed below will be from the May 19, 2024 Atlanta Open. 
• Broadcast start times are 11am Eastern Wednesday through Sunday. 
• National coverage also includes ESPN2 and CBS Sports Network. 
• Full coverage on Pickleball TV (Prime Video, Roku, Samsung TV Plus, LG, and many more).
• DEBUT: Pickleball Live post-game show will air immediately following the last match on center each day on PBTV.

WOMEN’S SINGLES:

• Defending medalists: Anna Leigh Waters, Parris Todd, Salome Devidze
• AL Waters (1) secured her 40th PPA singles title in Las Vegas. 
• Kate Fahey (11) has gone from corporate American Express project manager to qualifier to the 11^th seed in just one summer of play.  
• Catherine Parenteau is skipping singles in ATL, but will be in both doubles draws. 
• WATCH OUT FOR: Lea Jansen (2) – has not found the glory from two Texas titles earlier in the year – will this be the week? 

MEN’S SINGLES:

• Defending medalists: Ben Johns, Federico Staksrud, Christian Alshon
• Staksrud (1) rolled Dylan Frazier (6) in the Las Vegas Cup singles final, extending his singles run of dominance. 
• Ben Johns (2) is back in singles, is the defending champion, and seeks his 40^th singles title. 
• Quang Duong (7) – nursing an injury, but if healthy could make a run for a title. 
• WATCH OUT FOR: Hunter Johnson (20) – with more tournaments played, seed keeps improving, would get McGuffin in the round of 16 if both win their way there.

MIXED DOUBLES:

• Waters and Johns (1) have won 7 straight tournaments that they entered, including last week at the Fontainebleau. 
• Parenteau and Alshon (4) back together for tourney #3 – only previous losses are to AL/Ben. 
• Tourney #2 for Etta Wright and Augie Ge (13) – if they gel, a big run is possible. 
• WATCH OUT FOR: Tardio and Irvine (8) who have found chemistry and grabbed a title in Utah in August.

WOMEN’S DOUBLES:

• Pickles o’ plenty in Vegas for ALW and Parenteau (1) – double pickle in round 1 and game 1 pickle in the finals. 108 and 1 overall. 
• Girlies (Bright and Rohrabacher) are back together as the 2 seed – will they earn another shot at ALW/CP?
• Parris Todd and Lea Jansen (9) are playing together for the 1^st time. 
• WATCH OUT FOR: Vivienne David and Tina Pisnik (6) – will their reset ability and top-flight counters get them to the podium? Only other appearance together was in Vegas in October 2023. 

MEN’S DOUBLES:

• Tardio and Daescu (6) roll into Atlanta with back-to-back titles in SLC and Las Vegas.
• Round of 16 potential highlight of two teams that played for bronze in Vegas last week: (8) Newman/Alshon vs. (9) Garnett/Loong – the 8seed won 11-0, 11-8.   
• DC Pickleball teammates Ignatowich and Bar (4) look to make the podium (and help Jimmy move up the Race standings – he’s currently below the cut line for men’s doubles). 
• WATCH OUT FOR: Potential quarterfinal matchup between Tardio/Daescu and the Johns brothers (2) – Johns brothers trail in the series (1-2) but won this matchup in ATL in May.