STORYLINES FOR THE VEOLIA ATLANTA PICKLEBALL CHAMPIONSHIPS PRESENTED BY ENSURE MAX PROTEIN (MAY 12-18, 2025)

OVERALL TOP 5: 

• THE BREAKUP: Anna Leigh Waters is now paired with Anna Bright while Rachel Rohrabacher and Catherine Parenteau are partners on the other side of the draw. Will they meet in the final?
• THE BALL: How will the bouncier Life Time ball affect play and results?
• THE MLP IMPACT: Some players are gaining confidence at MLP – who will ride that wave to big results in Georgia?  
• THE 150: Anna Leigh Waters is two wins from 150 in her career. 
• THE SECOND SLAM: 2,000 Carvana PPA Tour points for the winners, twice an Open. 

VENUE/TOURNEY/TV:

• Tourney #10 on the campaign at Life Time athletic country club in Peachtree Corners. 
• Progressive draw: all brackets every day, starting with the round of 64 on Tuesday. 
• Over 1,400 players participating in the event. 
• PickleballTV (and the app) will have all of the coverage, starting each day at 10am Eastern, with Tennis Channel coverage from 1:30-4:30 Eastern on Saturday and Sunday. 

WOMEN’S SINGLES:

• Defending Medalists: Anna Leigh Waters, Parris Todd, Salome Devidze
• Waters (1) and Jorja Johnson (14) could battle in the round of 16. 
• Will Kaitlyn Christian (3) find her early season form and make a deep run? 
• Fun round of 64 match: Allyce Jones (37) vs. Samantha Parker (25)
• Watch out for: Kate Fahey (2) – stirring comeback win at the last PPA event in her new home state in NC, can she get to Sunday again?

MEN’S SINGLES:

• Defending Medalists: Ben Johns, Federico Staksrud, Christian Alshon
• Hunter Johnson (2) was forced to scratch at MLP Orlando due to injury but is in this draw.   
• Top half potential quarterfinals: Staksrud (1) vs. Frazier (8) & Garnett (3) vs. Martinez Vich (5)
• Bottom half potential quarterfinals: H. Johnson (2) vs. Duong (6) and B. Johns (4) vs. Alshon (7)
• Watch out for: Christian Alshon (7) – broke through with back-to-back wins in Cape Coral and McKinney Texas, can he get win #3 in ATL?

MIXED DOUBLES:

• Defending medalists: Anna Leigh Waters/Ben Johns, Anna Bright/James Ignatowich, JW & Jorja Johnson
• Can JW/Jorja Johnson (2) win 2 straight after beating Waters/Johns 11-8 in the 5^th in NC? 
• Fun partnerships alert: Bright/Duong (5), Black/Ignatowich (6), Dizon/Martinez Vich (11)
• Riley and Lindsey Newman (14): partners for the 1^st time since August of ’23. 
• Watch out for: Pisnik/Daescu – lost in the finals in Daytona and have won a game versus Waters/Johns – how far can they go as the 9 seed?

WOMEN’S DOUBLES:

• Defending medalists: Waters/Parenteau, Jade Kawamoto/Koop, Jansen/Smith
• Rohrabacher and Parenteau are the 1 seed with 100 more points than Waters/Bright (2).
• Jorja Johnson is paired with Jade Kawamoto as a very dangerous 4 seed.  
• Can Vivienne David and Etta Tuionetoa (10) make a run to the podium as first-time partners?
• Watch out for: Todd/Black (3) – will the two red hot players be the difference in stopping the Breakup Sunday Showdown from coming to fruition? 

MEN’S DOUBLES:

• Defending medalists: Frazier/Johnson, Staksrud/Wright, Bar/McGuffin
• Patriquin/Staksrud (1) both played exceptionally well in MLP – can they live up to the one seed?
• Team Power Forward (Daescu/Alshon), the 3 seed, are 21-2 as a team.
• Potential top half quarter final matchups: Patriquin/Staksrud (1) vs. JW Johnson/Klinger (5) & Frazier/Bar (4) vs. Ignatowich/C. Johns (6)
• Potential bottom half quarter final matchups: B. Johns/Tardio (2) vs. Wright/Newman (8) – BACK TOGETHER AGAIN & Daescu/Alshon (3) vs. Tellez/Martinez Vich (7)
• Watch out for: Tardio/B. Johns (2) – have won 2 in a row as a team and have made Sunday in all 3 events in their new partnership. Can they get their 3^rd victory in Georgia?