The PPA Tour’s second cease of the 2026-27 season had a bit of little bit of all the things.
The No. 1 seeds in males’s doubles acquired completely smoked of their first match collectively. A pair of youngsters continued to show the PPA Challenger Sequence is producing professional Tour-level expertise. A 46-seed made the quarterfinals. A crew had six championship factors and in some way did not win.
Oh, and a chook pooped on the eventual males’s singles champion in the midst of the ultimate.
Welcome again to Mesa.
The Veolia Arizona Open was all the time set as much as be a bit of completely different. A handful of prime gamers had been lacking, the brand new World Pickleball Rankings created some very uncommon seeds and byes, and Anna Leigh Waters wasn’t enjoying ladies’s doubles, opening up a complete draw.
By the point Championship Sunday ended, we had 4 completely different championship groups, an Anna Leigh Waters double gold, and possibly the perfect males’s doubles ultimate of the season thus far.
Let’s get into it.
Alshon and Daescu Survive Six Championship Factors
I picked Ben Johns and Federico Staksrud to win males’s doubles earlier than the match.
They lasted one match.
Nico Acevedo and Yuta Funemizu took the No. 15 seed and fully dismantled Johns and Staksrud, 11-4, 11-5, in simply 34 minutes. This wasn’t an 11-9, 12-10 upset the place a few balls went the incorrect approach. Acevedo and Funemizu had been merely higher.
And it turned out that end result was not a fluke.
They beat Casey Diamond and Tyson McGuffin 12-10 within the third within the quarterfinals, then did the very same factor in opposition to No. 3 seeds CJ Klinger and Cam Chaffin within the semifinals, successful 12-10 in one other third recreation.
That put them into the ultimate in opposition to Christian Alshon and Andrei Daescu.
What adopted was ridiculous.
Alshon and Daescu gained Sport 1, Acevedo and Funemizu answered in Sport 2, and the deciding recreation changed into a marathon. Acevedo and Funemizu had six completely different championship level alternatives.
Six.
They could not convert any of them.
Alshon and Daescu lastly escaped, 11-7, 7-11, 15-13, after 91 minutes. It was their fourth title collectively and their second in Mesa.
Acevedo and Funemizu had been in all probability the story of the match regardless of ending with silver, however give Alshon and Daescu a ton of credit score. Surviving one or two match factors is one factor. Six is absurd.
Alshon additionally made the blended doubles ultimate and males’s singles semifinals. He was all over the place this week.
Anna Leigh Waters Wins Two Extra — and Ben Will get Again on High in Blended
Anna Leigh Waters solely entered two occasions this week, so there was no Triple Crown obtainable.
She settled for 2 golds as a substitute.
Waters and Ben Johns entered Mesa coming off a semifinal loss at Nationals in Carolina, and this specific venue hasn’t precisely been type to them just lately. They hadn’t gained blended doubles in Mesa since 2024, shedding to Anna Brilliant and Dekel Bar in 2025 after which Brilliant and Hayden Patriquin on the Mesa Cup earlier this 12 months.
There was no drama Sunday.
Waters and Johns beat Rachel Rohrabacher and Christian Alshon 11-3, 11-6 within the blended doubles ultimate.
For Johns, the win was profession PPA blended doubles title No. 80 and prolonged his streak to 58 straight PPA tournaments with a minimum of one gold medal.
Waters then completed the match in opposition to Kate Fahey in ladies’s singles.
Fahey performed an excellent first recreation and saved issues aggressive, however Waters gained 11-9, 11-4 to complete her weekend with two gold medals. Her singles unbeaten streak entered the match at greater than two years and three months — and it continues.
At this level, the largest ladies’s singles storyline at each occasion is fairly simple:
Who’s going to beat Anna Leigh?
We nonetheless do not have a solution.
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Chris Haworth Apparently Actually Likes Mesa
Chris Haworth gained males’s singles on the Mesa Cup in February.
Six months later, he did it once more.
Haworth and Federico Staksrud produced one in every of Sunday’s greatest matches, with Staksrud taking Sport 1, 12-10, earlier than Haworth responded 11-9.
Then issues acquired bizarre.
Haworth trailed 6-3 in Sport 3 when a chook actually pooped on him.
He proceeded to attain the ultimate eight factors of the match.
I’m not suggesting the 2 issues are associated. I am additionally not NOT saying that.
Haworth gained 10-12, 11-9, 11-6 to defend his Mesa title and seize the ninth PPA Tour singles championship of his profession.
Extra importantly, Haworth continues to solidify himself as one of many two or three males you completely don’t need to see in a singles draw.
In my preview, I picked Haworth to win the match. I will conveniently ignore a few of my different predictions and take the win right here.
Rohrabacher and Todd Get the Gold — Simply in Time for the Marriage ceremony
With Anna Leigh Waters not enjoying ladies’s doubles and Anna Brilliant and Jorja Johnson additionally absent, this was as open as a ladies’s doubles draw has been in a very long time.
Rachel Rohrabacher and Parris Todd took benefit.
The highest seeds reached the ultimate in opposition to the brand new pairing of Meghan Dizon and Hurricane Tyra Black and seemed like they had been going to cruise.
Rohrabacher and Todd gained the primary recreation 11-4 and acquired all the way in which to 10-2 in Sport 2 with championship level.
Dizon and Black in some way got here all the way in which again to steal it, 12-10.
As an alternative of letting that collapse carry into the third, Todd and Rohrabacher reset and gained the deciding recreation 11-6. It was their second title as a crew and their fifth medal collectively.
The timing is fairly good for Rohrabacher.
She will get married on September 26.
The PPA’s match preview referred to as her “the bride to be” and requested whether or not she may take a gold medal to her wedding ceremony.
Mission achieved.
Different Storylines
Ben Johns and Federico Staksrud Have been One-and-Performed
This technically suits into the Acevedo/Funemizu story, however it deserves to be repeated.
Johns and Staksrud had been the No. 1 seed and probably the most intriguing new partnerships within the draw.
They misplaced 11-4, 11-5 in 34 minutes.
Acevedo was keen to take a seat in crosscourt dink exchanges with Johns, whereas Funemizu was excellent on the opposite aspect. For a pairing that had obtained loads of consideration earlier than the match, it was an unbelievably fast exit.
Funemizu and Acevedo reaching the ultimate after the upset made the entire thing much more spectacular.
The Youngsters are Legit
Kiora Kunimoto and Elliott Schupp are 18 and 19 years outdated.
In addition they reached the blended doubles quarterfinals.
The 2 had already gone 11-2 collectively in two PPA Challenger occasions, together with successful the Atlanta Challenger, and introduced that success on to the primary Tour in Mesa.
Their path included wins over Etta Tuionetoa and Will Howells, No. 9 seeds Kaitlyn Christian and Connor Garnett, and Meghan Dizon and John Lucian Goins earlier than lastly working into Waters and Johns.
Kunimoto and Schupp look approach forward of schedule and are going to be a pressure to be reckoned with in the course of the the rest of this 12 months.
Maria Ford Makes a Run From the 46 Seed
One of many greater surprises in singles was Maria Ford.
Ford entered because the No. 46 seed (and needed to make it out qualifiers) and made all of it the way in which to the ladies’s singles quarterfinals, together with an 11-6, 11-7 win over No. 6 Chao Yi Wang.
Kate Fahey ended the run emphatically within the quarters, however getting from No. 46 into the ultimate eight at a PPA occasion is a heck of per week.
Jalina Ingram Beat Two High 10 Seeds to Make her First Semifinals
Native teenage standout, Jalina Ingram, had herself an outstanding week of singles.
Because the No. 13 seed, she needed to play a qualifier within the Spherical of 64, and Charlie Trevino is an excellent singles participant. Ingram gained 11-0, 11-5. Ingram then took care of Marcela Aguila Ampon within the Spherical of 32 11-5, 11-5.
After which the large wins began.
Within the Spherical of 16, Ingram confronted off in opposition to No. 3 Kaitlyn Christian on SC1. In a really forwards and backwards recreation one, Christian took it 14-12. Ingram was capable of come again and win recreation two, 11-9. Within the third and deciding recreation, Ingram pulled forward and gained 11-6.
She then confronted No. 7 seed Catherine Parenteau within the quaterfinals. After taking place 3-2 in recreation one, Ingram fired off 9 straight factors, successful 11-3. Parenteau got here out swinging in recreation two, successful 11-9, and Ingram had a few match factors on her paddle.
In recreation three, Ingram’s serve and energy took over, successful 11-1.
This weekend marked Ingram’s first run to the semifinals in her profession. She misplaced to Anna Leigh Waters 0 & 0 on the semis, however is utilizing that as a studying expertise transferring ahead.
The Arizona native is enjoying a few of the greatest ball I’ve seen in her profession and she or he loves enjoying in Vegas, which is the following cease on the tour.
Sofia Stitching and Casey Diamond Do It Once more
I highlighted Sofia Stitching and Casey Diamond as a harmful low-seeded blended doubles crew earlier than the occasion, they usually delivered.
They dropped Sport 1 to Jack Sock and Lacy Schneemann earlier than coming again to win 3-11, 11-7, 11-2. Then they beat Angie Walker and James Delgado earlier than knocking off Tyra Black and Noe Khlif in three video games to achieve the quarterfinals.
Kate Fahey and Federico Staksrud lastly stopped them.
As Stitching continues accumulating PPA factors, she’s going to cease exhibiting up in these absurd spots within the draw. Till then, the upper seeds who maintain drawing her early in all probability aren’t very joyful about it.
The New WPR Bye System Is Nonetheless Bizarre
I discussed this at size in my match preview, and nothing from this week modified my opinion.
As a result of World Pickleball Rankings are getting used for the brand new bye system, Ben Johns — the No. 22 singles seed — and Andrei Daescu — the No. 45 seed — obtained double byes instantly into the Spherical of 16.
In the meantime, No. 1 Chris Haworth and No. 3 Hunter Johnson needed to start within the Spherical of 64. Gamers like Matthew Barlow and Alex Crum had been despatched by way of qualifiers.
The WPR is attempting to create one world rating that rewards outcomes throughout disciplines and occasions. I perceive the thought.
However a singles draw the place the 45 seed begins within the Spherical of 16 and the 1 seed begins within the Spherical of 64 goes to be tough to clarify to the common fan.
I wrote earlier than the match that I count on modifications to this format getting into 2027.
I am sticking with that.
Championship Sunday Goes Finest Two-of-Three
One different notable change: all 5 Championship Sunday finals had been performed greatest two-out-of-three video games as a substitute of the normal greatest three-out-of-five.
And three of the 5 finals nonetheless went to a deciding recreation.
The 91-minute males’s doubles ultimate actually did not lack drama.
It will likely be attention-grabbing to see whether or not the Tour continues with this format transferring ahead – personally, I actually like this modification and hope it sticks.
Subsequent Up: Las Vegas
There is not a lot time to reset.
The PPA Tour heads to Nevada for the Fee Las Vegas Open, working September 28 by way of October 4 on the Darling Tennis Heart.
Mesa gave us a bit of little bit of all the things: established stars successful once more, younger gamers breaking by way of, weird seeding conditions, new partnerships making deep runs, a large early upset and one of many craziest males’s doubles finals of the 12 months.
And a chook.
Do not forget the chook.
