Will Some New Faces Break Through This Week at PPA Sacramento?

The PPA Tour is back in action at the Sacramento Open this weekend at the Life Time Roseville. The facility has 14 permanent pickleball courts, with another seven outdoor tennis courts available for temporary use.

How to Watch the PPA Sacramento Open

*All times are EST

• Thursday, May 30 - Singles 
  • 2-10pm - Humana Championship Court - PickleballTV
  • 2-8pm - Grandstand Court - PPA YouTube 
• Friday, May 31 - Mixed Doubles
  • 2-10pm - Humana Championship Court - PickleballTV
  • 2-8pm - Grandstand Court - PPA YouTube 
• Saturday, June 1 - Gender Doubles
  • 2-10pm - Humana Championship Court - PickleballTV
  • 2-8pm - Grandstand Court - PPA YouTube  
• Sunday, June 2 - Championship Sunday
  • 2-8pm - Humana Championship Court - PickleballTV
  • 1-5pm - Grandstand Court - Bronze Medal Matches - PPA YouTube

Weather forecast

Finally! For the first time in a while, the PPA Tour has great weather scheduled throughout the event. The biggest issue is the heat - players are going to need to stay hydrated throughout the event. 

Players NOT playing in Sacramento

• Christian Alshon 
• Collin Johns 
• Salome Devdize

MLP Teams partnering up for PPA Sacramento

Here are some partnerships in place for PPA Sacramento to ensure they are ready for MLP Washington D.C. next week:

Mixed Doubles

• No. 4 seed - Jorja and JW Johnson - Dallas Flash
• No. 11 seed - Parris Todd and Tyson McGuffin - Orlando Squeeze
• No. 28 seed - Allison Phillips and John Cincola - Frisco Pandas

Women’s Doubles

• No. 4 seed - Alix Truong and Callie Jo Smith - Utah Black Diamonds
• No. 5 seed - Jessie Irvine and Andrea Koop - Seattle Pioneers
• No. 6 seed - Parris Todd and Vivienne David - Orlando Squeeze
• No. 7 seed - Hurricane Tyra Black and Jorja Johnson - Dallas Flash

New Version of the Vulcan VPRO FLIGHT in Sacramento

Rumor has it that Vulcan has been working on an updated version of the VPRO FLIGHT ball and it is debuting this weekend in Sacramento. It will be exciting to see if the new version is able to stay in round and provide a more consistent bounce. Kudos to Vulcan for continuing to work on the quality of the ball.

Women's Singles

Storylines to follow

• Salome Devidze is not playing in Sacramento coming off her silver medal at PPA Texas.
• As we highlighted in our PPA Texas Recap, it was the first match loss that Anna Leigh Waters took in ... forever. Will she bounce back?
• Parris Todd did a great job earning a silver medal in PPA Atlanta - what does she get for it? She moves up seeds to the No. 8 seed, playing Anna Leigh Waters in the quarterfinals.

Players to watch

• No. 20 seed LingWei Kong – Kong has been getting better and better on tour. If she can get past Alexis Nelson, she would play her former women’s doubles partner, Ava Ignatowich.
• No. 25 seed Jessie Irvine – Jessie doesn’t normally play singles. I assume Irvine is playing singles to ensure she is ready for Dreambreakers in MLP Washington D.C.

Predictions

• Semifinalists: Anna Leigh Waters (1), Lea Jansen (3), Judit Castillo (5), Mary Brascia (4)
• Finals: Anna Leigh Waters beats Judit Castillo

Men's Singles

Storylines to follow

• While Ben Johns is playing in Sacramento, he is sitting out the singles portion.
• Chris Haworth, coming off his singles silver medal at PPA Texas, is not playing in this tournament.

Players to watch

• No. 10 seed Gabe Joseph – Joseph almost always plays well in California - don’t be surprised to see him make a deep run.
• No. 31 seed Hunter Johnson – I feel like a broken record at this point, but Johnson is very underseeded. He will have to face Fed Staksrud in the second round.

Predictions

• Semifinalists: Federico Staksrud (1), Quang Duong (6), JW Johnson (9), Jaume Martinez Vich (4)
• Finals: Jaume Martinez Vich beats Federico Staksrud, winning his first ever gold medal on the PPA Tour.

Mixed Doubles

Storylines to follow

• Ben Johns and Anna Leigh Waters haven’t lost in nearly three months. Is Sacramento the place where their streak ends?
• Anna Bright and James Ignatowich are back playing together this weekend. Can they make another deep run?
• Riley. Newman. Is. Back. He is playing with Etta Wright, who needed a partner because Christian Alshon is missing his second straight tournament.

Teams to watch

• No. 16 seed Jill Braverman and Travis Rettenmaier – Team Podcast! These two are an interesting pairing and I actually think they might do well. Just no eye rolling, Travis! You will hear about it next week if you do!
• No. 19 seed Lina Padegimaite and Rafa Hewett – I liked this team in Texas. Hopefully they can continue to build chemistry.
• No. 25 seed Jaume Martinez Vich and Alix Truong – This could be the shortest mixed doubles team in history, but they both bring a ton of power, charisma, and entertainment value. I hope their match against Federico Staksrud and Rachel Rohrabacher is televised.

Predictions

• Semifinalists: Anna Leigh Waters and Ben Johns (1), Federico Staksrud and Rachel Rohrabacher (6), Anna Bright and James Ignatowich (2), Etta Wright and Riley Newman (5)
• Finals: Anna Leigh and Ben beat Anna Bright and James in five games

Women's Doubles

Storylines to follow

• "The girlies" are back - Rachel Rohrabacher and Anna Bright are the No. 2 seed
• Susannah Barr is playing on the PPA Tour - she is the No. 13 seed with Lina Padegimaite in women’s and playing with Connor Garnett in mixed.
• As the No. 4 seed, Callie Jo Smith and Alix Truong could make a deep run.

Teams to watch

• No. 18 seed Alex and Angie Walker – They have been playing great together lately and will get Padegimaite and Barr in the second round.
• No. 10 seed Lauren Stratman and Kaitlyn Christian – This is an interesting and new partnership - both like to play the left, so maybe they just play straight up?
• No. 26 seed Samantha Parker and Rachel Rettger – This duo played solid in Texas, losing their first game, 8-11, to Hurricane Tyra Black and Jorja Johnson. Unfortunately, they will face the No. 1 seed in the Round of 32.

Predictions

• Semifinalists: Anna Leigh Waters and Catherine Parenteau (1), Meghan Dizon and Etta Wright (3), Anna Bright and Rachel Rohrabacher (2), Vivienne David and Parris Todd (6)
• Finals: Anna Leigh and Catherine beat Anna Bright and Rachel in four games

Men's Doubles

Storylines to follow

• With no Collin Johns, Ben is partnering with James Ignatowich and are the No. 2 seed.
• Can JW Johnson and Dylan Frazier make it four PPA Tour wins in a row in men’s doubles?
• Hayden Patriquin and Federico Staksrud are pairing up for the first time and they are the No. 4 seed - a lot of firepower, athleticism, and energy for this team.

Teams to watch

• No. 8 seed Jack Sock and Thomas Wilson – Talk about an ATHLETIC team with firepower. This will be great to watch.
• No. 19 seed John Cincola and Michael Loyd – This is the second tournament in a row for this pairing and I really like them as a team. The only problem is they will go up against Rafa Hewett and Will Howells in the Round of 32.
• No. 20 seed Blaine Hovenier and Caden Nemoff – This is an interesting pairing. The tall former Bruin is playing with Nemoff, who recently took a game off the Johns brothers.

Predictions

• Semifinalists: JW Johnson and Dylan Frazier (1), Jaume Martinez Vich and Pablo Tellez (5), Ben Johns and James Ignatowich (2), Jack Sock and Thomas Wilson (8)
• Finals: Ben Johns and James Ignatowich beat JW Johnson and Dylan Frazier for their first gold together, ending the Frazier/Johnson three-tournament streak.