The Pickleball Central Indoor USA Championships Tournament Preview

The Carvana PPA Tour stops in Lakeville, Minnesota, this week for the Indoor USA Championships, kicking off Wednesday.

The tournament is 100 percent indoors at the Lakeville Lifetime. The facility is equipped with 16 permanent hard surface indoor courts, so this will be a smaller tournament. 

The Indoor Championships is an "Open" level tournament, worth 1,000 PPA Points to the victors. This also means that the draw is a traditional draw, not progressive. Thursday is singles, Friday is mixed doubles, Saturday is gender doubles, and then there is a championship Sunday.

How to Watch the USA Indoor Championships

ALL TIMES EASTERN

Thursday: Singles

• 12pm - 8pm - Center Court - PickleballTV
• 12pm - 6pm - Grandstand Court - PPA YouTube

Friday: Mixed Doubles

• 12pm - 8pm - Center Court - PickleballTV
• 12pm - 6pm - Grandstand Court - PPA YouTube

Saturday: Men’s and Women’s Doubles

• 12pm - 8pm - Center Court - PickleballTV
• 12pm - 6pm - Grandstand Court - PPA YouTube

Sunday: Championships

• 12pm - 6pm - Center Court Championships - PickleballTV
• 12pm - 6pm - Grandstand Court Bronze Matches - PPA YouTube
  

Notable Players Missing

Again, this is a smaller PPA Tour stop (worth 1,000 points) and on the heels of two straight events in Arizona. There are a number of notable players missing from this tournament:

• Ben Johns - rest
• Anna Leigh Waters - rest
• Riley Newman - rest
• Dylan Frazier - rest
• Maggie Brascia - rest
• Mary Brascia - rest
• James Ignatowich - Injured shoulder
• Tyson McGuffin - Foot injury
• JW Johnson - Playing APP Sacramento
• Jorja Johnson - Playing APP Sacramento
• Gabe Tardio - Playing APP Sacramento

Women’s Singles

• Top Seeds are Parenteau, Jansen, Devidze, and Stratman
• Top (Potential) Matchups to watch:
  • (2) Jansen vs. (15) Todd - a great early-round matchup.
  • (11) Truluck vs. (6) Buckner - both are well inside our Top 20 women’s singles power rankings.
  • (5) Padegimaite vs. (12) Christian - Both up-and-comers on the singles scene.

Predictions

• Semifinalists: Parenteau, Jansen, Devidze, and Christian
• Finals: Parenteau vs Christian in the finals, with Kaitlyn Christian winning her first gold medal

Men’s Singles

• Top Seeds are Staksrud, Garnett, Alshon, and Tellez
• Top (Potential) Matchups to watch:
  • (8) Duong vs. (9) Lohani - Both have amazing passing shots.
  • (12) Patriquin vs. (22) Campbell - Can Campbell continue his momentum in Minnesota?
  • (2) Garnett vs. (13) Hewitt - These two often play men’s doubles together and are good friends - should be a great match to watch.

Predictions

• Semifinalists: Staksrud, Sock, Shick, and Joseph
• Finals: Staksrud plays Jack Sock in the finals, with Sock winning his first singles gold medal

Mixed Doubles

• Mixed Doubles is the most exciting bracket in Minnesota - with ALW and Ben Johns out, the draw is wide open.
• Top Seeds are Wilson/David, Collin Johns/Bright, Sock/Parenteau, and Kovalova/Wright
• Top (Potential) Matchups to watch:
  • (7) Black/Alshon vs. (12) Staksrud/Rohrabacher - These two teams are top level and this matchup feels like a semifinal, not a round of 16.
  • (6) Smith/Devilliers vs. (10) Navratil/Koop - These OGs are playing extremely well right now.
  • (4) Kovalova/Wright vs. (13) Bar/Pisnik - Bar and Pisnik are a team on the rise and Kovalova and Wright haven’t gotten off to the best start in 2024.

Predictions

• Semifinalists: Wilson/David, Johns/Bright, Sock/Parenteau, and Bar/Pisnik
• Finals: Wilson and David beat Sock and Parenteau for the gold medal

Women’s Doubles

• Top Seeds are Smith/Kovalova, Bright/Rohrabacher, Schneemann/David, and Stratman/Jones
• Top (Potential) Matchups to watch:
  • (5) Padegimaite/Jansen vs. (1) Smith/Kovalova - Jansen and Padegimaite are a new partnership that could have some real fire power.
  • (16) Summers/Christian vs. (4) Stratman/Jones - This could be a fun matchup to watch.
  • (3) Schneemann/David vs. (6) - Black/Todd - Tyra and Parris Todd make a very offensive team and Schneemann/David haven’t been firing on all cylinders.

Predictions

• Semifinalists: Jansen/Padegimaite, Rohrabacher/Bright, Schneemann/David, and Koop/Pisnik
• Finals: Rohrabacher/Bright beat Koop/Pisnik in the finals

Men’s Doubles

• Top Seeds are Collin Johns/Wright, Tellez/Staksrud, Alshon/Wilson, and Young/Bar
• I am so interested in finding out who plays the left in the Johns/Wright partnership - they are both easily top five right-side guys.
• Top (Potential) Matchups to watch:
  • (3) Alshon/Wilson vs. (5) Smith/Devilliers - Lots of fireworks are to be had here.
  • (2) Staksrud/Tellez vs. (9) Arnold/Sock - There is going to be some trash talking in this one - I really hope this is televised.

Predictions

• Semifinalists: Rettenmaier/Navratil, Tellez/Staksrud, Patriquin/Dawson and  Alshon/Wilson
• Finals: Alshon/Wilson win gold over Tellez/Staksrud