STORYLINES FOR THE VEOLIA NORTH CAROLINA OPEN

OVERALL TOP 5: 

• THEY’RE BAAAAACK: Ben Johns, Anna Bright, Brooke Buckner, Tyson McGuffin and more return to the draws. How will they fare after being overseas?
• MEN’S DUBS IS FIRE: New partnerships, incredible pace, and budding new rivalries can be found throughout the draw. Can Andrei Daescu and Christian Alshon keep winning?
• SEMI-FINAL SATURDAY 2.0: Tourney #2 with the new Open format: Wednesday singles, Thursday mixed doubles, Friday women’s and men’s doubles, semi-final Saturday, and Championship Sunday.  
• BACK2BACK: Quick turnaround and cross-country travel for the players who battled in Utah. 
• OPEN LOOK: 1,000 Carvana PPA Tour points for the winners. 

VENUE/TOURNEY/TV:

• Year #2 at Cary Tennis Park and tourney #9 on the campaign. 
• Tournament will be played on RollX surface.  
• Over 1,200 players participating in the event. 
• PickleballTV (and the app) will have all the coverage, starting each day at 11am Eastern. 

WOMEN’S SINGLES:

• Defending Medalists: Anna Leigh Waters, Catherine Parenteau, Lea Jansen
• Anna Leigh Waters (1) won singles crown #50 in Utah. 
• Brooke Buckner (4) will have big fan support playing in her home state. 
• Helena Jansen (16) won a triple crown in the first PPA Challenger Series event last week. 
• Watch out for: Kate Fahey (2) – has risen up to the #2 seed – can she reach Sunday?

MEN’S SINGLES:

• Defending Medalists: Ben Johns, Federico Staksrud, Connor Garnett
• Hunter Johnson (2) just keeps winning titles – beat Sock (8) in last week’s final and could face him again in the quarters here.  
• Quang Duong (6) – pushing for another shot at a title, took 4^th in Utah. 
• Fun first round matchup Lucian Goins (25) vs. Tom Evans (35)
• Watch out for: Ben Johns (4) – will that low seed (for him) be extra motivation?

MIXED DOUBLES:

• Defending medalists: Anna Leigh Waters/Ben Johns, Tina Pisnik/Dekel Bar, Vivienne David/Thomas Wilson. 
• Dekel Bar won his first mixed gold in Utah with Todd, paired with Rohrabacher as the 6 seed. 
• Bright/Staksrud (4) is a dangerous first-time partnership. 
• Aussies Tom Evans and Helena Spiridis (56) face Australian Open Champs McGuffin/Schneemann (13) in the first round. 
• Watch out for: Parenteau/Alshon (3) – lost a heartbreaking final in 5 games in Utah, can they make another run to Sunday? 

WOMEN’S DOUBLES:

• Defending medalists: Waters/Parenteau, Schneemann/David, Todd/Black
• Waters/Parenteau (1) shot right back to the top of the sport, sweeping their way through Utah after a quarterfinal loss in McKinney, Texas.
• Parris Todd won a medal of each color in Utah – she’s paired with Schneemann as the 4 seed.  
• Girlies are back together as Anna Bright returns from Asia to play with Rohrabacher – they are the 2 seed. 
• Watch out for: Etta Tuionetoa/Meghan Dizon (5) – Tuionetoa has made the last two finals with two different Utah partners (Smith and Jones) – can she get there with a 3^rd?

MEN’S DOUBLES:

• Defending medalists: Johns/Johns, Ge/Martinez Vich, Staksrud/Tellez
• Team Power Forward (Daescu/Alshon), the 3 seed, are 19-1 as a team.
• Tardio/ Ben Johns (2) are back together and looking to win 2 in a row as a team – they are in the same half as Daescu/Alshon. 
• Is this the week JW Johnson/CJ Klinger click as the 5 seed?
• Watch out for: Patriquin/Staksrud (1) – have medaled in every tournament they have entered, including 3 golds.