The Veolia Chicago Cup Tournament Preview

There isn't much time to recover from Las Vegas.

Just one day after Championship Sunday at the Rate Las Vegas Open, the PPA Tour is back in action for the Veolia Chicago Cup, taking place October 5-11 at Life Time North Shore Sport & Racquet in Northbrook, Illinois.

This is the PPA Tour's first stop in Chicago, so there are no defending champions.

It's also a Cup, meaning there are 1,500 ranking points available to the winner in each division — 50 percent more than last week's Las Vegas Open.

The tournament will be played indoors and once again features a progressive draw, with one round of each bracket played per day and no bronze medal matches. All five Championship Sunday finals will be best two-out-of-three games.

Here are the biggest storylines heading into Chicago, followed by a breakdown of all five brackets.

Five Storylines to Watch

1. Anna Leigh Waters Gets Three Chances at No. 200

We spent much of last week talking about Anna Leigh Waters potentially reaching 200 career PPA titles in Las Vegas.

She got close.

Waters and Anna Bright won women's doubles, giving Waters career title No. 199, but Bright and Hayden Patriquin then beat Waters and Ben Johns, 11-9, 11-7, in the mixed doubles final to delay the milestone.

Now Waters gets three chances in Chicago.

She is back in women's singles after sitting the division out in Las Vegas, while once again partnering with Bright in women's doubles and Johns in mixed doubles.

The next gold medal Waters wins will be No. 200.

2. Bright and Patriquin Have Become a Real Problem for Waters and Johns

We can probably stop treating Anna Bright and Hayden Patriquin beating Waters and Johns as an upset.

Bright and Patriquin defeated the longtime No. 1 team in straight games Sunday in Las Vegas to capture the mixed doubles title.

They are now 2-for-2 together during the 2026-27 PPA season.

Even more notable: Las Vegas wasn't their first win over Waters and Johns in a final. They also beat them in Mesa earlier this year.

Waters and Johns remain the No. 1 seed in Chicago, with Bright and Patriquin directly behind them at No. 2.

If we get Round Three on Sunday, I can't bet against the GOATs, as they don't like losing together.

3. Men's Doubles Gets Completely Shuffled

The men's doubles bracket might be the most interesting one in Chicago simply because several of the Tour's normal partnerships are gone.

Gabe Tardio and Christian Alshon are both playing overseas this week.

That means Ben Johns, who has spent most of the past two seasons playing alongside Tardio, will partner with Jack Sock as the No. 2 seed.

Andrei Daescu, meanwhile, teams with Will Howells after winning back-to-back tournaments with Alshon in Arizona and Las Vegas.

With Johns/Tardio and Alshon/Daescu broken up, Hayden Patriquin and Federico Staksrud become the No. 1 seed.

There is no overwhelming favorite here.

4. JW and Jorja Johnson Return

After missing the past two PPA tournaments, JW and Jorja Johnson are back.

The siblings immediately slot in as the No. 3 seed in mixed doubles.

That's particularly interesting because they land in the same half of the bracket as Bright and Patriquin.

JW is also partnering Tama Shimabukuro as the No. 4 seed in men's doubles, while Jorja teams with Sofia Sewing as the No. 4 seed in women's doubles.

Two of the best players in the world are suddenly being dropped back into three already deep doubles fields.

5. Can the Vegas Breakouts Keep It Going?

Las Vegas produced some results worth following into Chicago.

Hunter Johnson dominated men's singles, beating Federico Staksrud in the semifinals before destroying Ben Johns, 11-1, 11-3, in the final.

Kiora Kunimoto reached her first PPA Tour women's singles final.

And Nico Acevedo and Jaume Martinez Vich followed Acevedo's Arizona finals appearance with another deep run, this time reaching the men's doubles semifinals.

Chicago comes immediately afterward.

Can any of them do it again?

How to Watch the Veolia Chicago Cup

All times are Central Time.

Unlike Las Vegas, broadcast coverage begins much earlier in the tournament this week.

Tuesday, October 6 — Round of 64

• 2pm-10pm — PickleballTV

Wednesday, October 7 — Round of 32

• 2pm-10pm — PickleballTV

Thursday, October 8 — Round of 16

• 2pm-5pm — PickleballTV
• 2pm-4:30pm — Tennis Channel/PickleballTV
• 5pm-7pm — FS1
• 7pm-10pm — PickleballTV

Friday, October 9 — Quarterfinals

• 2pm-10pm — PickleballTV
• 2pm-5pm — Tennis Channel/PickleballTV
• 5pm-7pm — FS2/PickleballTV

Saturday, October 10 — Semifinals

• 12pm-8pm — PickleballTV
• 12pm-3pm — Tennis Channel/PickleballTV
• 8pm-10pm — FS2 replay

Sunday, October 11 — Championships

• 10am-3pm — PickleballTV
• 10am-2pm — Tennis Channel/PickleballTV
• 4:30pm-6:30pm — FS1 replay

Women's Singles

She's back.

After sitting out singles in Las Vegas, Anna Leigh Waters returns as the overwhelming favorite in Chicago.

Top Storylines

• Waters hasn't lost a PPA singles match in 858 days. She'll also enter the bracket knowing that a singles gold would immediately become career title No. 200.
• Kaitlyn Christian should have plenty of confidence. She won Las Vegas, beating Kiora Kunimoto in three games in Sunday's final.
• Speaking of Kunimoto, she jumps to the No. 8 seed after reaching her first career PPA final.
• One potential Round of 16 matchup I really like is (8) Kunimoto vs. (9) Judit Castillo, who actually paired up together in Las Vegas in doubles.

Predictions

Semifinalists: (1) Anna Leigh Waters, (3) Kaitlyn Christian, (2) Kate Fahey, and (4) Brooke Buckner
Finals: Waters takes out Fahey in three

Men's Singles

Hunter Johnson enters Chicago after putting together one of the more impressive singles Sundays we've seen recently.

Top Storylines

• Johnson is the player to watch. His 11-1, 11-3 win over Johns in Las Vegas gave him his 10th career PPA singles title.
• Ben Johns is somehow the No. 36 seed. Because of his ranking situation, that creates the possibility of a ridiculous Round of 32 matchup against No. 4 Roscoe Bellamy.
• Haworth remains the No. 1 seed, but he was upset early in Las Vegas by Luc Pham. His first round matchup may end up being Anouar Braham, who he beat 12-10, 11-9 in Vegas.
• One of my favorite opening-round matches is (22) Yates Johnson vs. (48) Nico Acevedo.
• Staksrud keeps putting himself deep into these tournaments but hasn't been able to turn those runs into a title recently.

Predictions

Semifinalists: (1) Chris Haworth, (29) Camden Chaffin, (2) Federico Staksrud, and (4) Roscoe Bellamy
Finals: Chris Haworth over Federico Staksrud

Champion: Chris Haworth

Haworth gets revenge for his early exit in Las Vegas.

Mixed Doubles

Mixed doubles suddenly has a legitimate rivalry at the top.

Top Storylines

• All eyes remain on Waters/Johns vs. Bright/Patriquin. Bright and Patriquin just beat the No. 1 seeds in straight games in Las Vegas.
• Bright and Patriquin are now 2-for-2 this season. Another title would make it difficult to argue they aren't currently the best mixed doubles team on Tour.
• Jorja and JW Johnson return after a two-tournament absence and immediately become a major threat as the No. 3 seed.
• One potential Round of 16 match could be excellent: (5) Tyra Black/Eric Oncins vs. (9) Catherine Parenteau/Riley Newman.
• We could also get a Kawamoto Bowl in the Round of 32. Jade Kawamoto/Dylan Frazier are the No. 23 seed, while Jackie Kawamoto/Tama Shimabukuro are No. 15.
• Rohrabacher also returns this week after getting married, teaming with Daescu as the No. 4 seed.

Predictions

Semifinalists: (1) Waters/Johns, (4) Rohrabacher/Daescu, (2) Bright/Patriquin, (3) Johnson/Johnson
Finals: Waters and Johns take out Bright and Patriquin in three, exacting revenge for last week.

Women's Doubles

Top Storylines

• Waters and Bright won their 25th title together in Las Vegas, but Black and Parenteau made them work for it.
• Black and Parenteau trailed 9-0 in Game 2 of Sunday's final before coming all the way back to win the game 12-10 and force a third.
• Sofia Sewing/Jorja Johnson might be my favorite new partnership of the week. They're only playing together for this tournament, but there is a ton of firepower on that side.
• Rachel Rohrabacher is back and partners with Tina Pisnik as the No. 3 seed.
• The Kawamoto sisters return together as the No. 5 seed and could see Waters/Bright in the quarterfinals - that's notable because the Kawamotos are one of the very few teams that have actually beaten Waters and Bright.

Predictions

Semifinalists: (1) Waters/Bright, (3) Rohrabacher/Pisnik, (2) Black/Parenteau, and (4) Sewing/Johnson
Finals: Waters and Bright over Johnson and Sewing

Men's Doubles

Welcome to the chaos bracket.

The teams that finished first and second in Las Vegas are both broken up this week.

• With Gabe Tardio overseas, Ben Johns partners with Jack Sock. That's easily one of the partnerships I'm most interested in watching all week.
• Patriquin/Staksrud move into the No. 1 spot. They have both spent plenty of time playing with other partners, but this feels like a legitimate opportunity to grab a title.
• Back-to-back champions Christian Alshon/Andrei Daescu cannot go for three straight because Alshon is also playing overseas. Daescu instead teams with Will Howells.
• Nico Acevedo/Jaume Martinez Vich are back together as the No. 14 seed after reaching the semifinals in Las Vegas. Acevedo has now made a men's doubles final and semifinal in consecutive tournaments with two different partners.
• The No. 3 team of Oncins/Klinger is extremely dangerous in a draw without a dominant favorite.
• Here's a fun one: Kyle Yates returns to the PPA main draw alongside Eli Steiner. If the No. 37 seeds win their opener, they get Patriquin/Staksrud.
• JW Johnson's return also gives Shimabukuro/Johnson a legitimate chance from the No. 4 position.

Predictions

Semifinalists: (1) Patriquin/Staksrud, (3) Oncins/Klinger, (2) Johns/Sock, and (14) Martinez Vich/Acevedo
Finals: Patriquin/Staksrud over Martinez Vich/Acevedo