Big Stories Round Up From the CIBC Atlanta Slam PPA tournament 9th September

Here are the main stories provided by the PPA news team from the Atlanta tournament which wrapped up last week. (you can view original article here)

OVERALL TOP 5:

• SLAM THE DOOR: One of just 4 Slams on the season with 2,000 points awarded to the winners. 
• ATL 2.0: Playing at the beautiful Lifetime Peachtree Corners for the 2^nd time in 2024 (original location, the Cincinnati Open tennis venue, is currently undergoing extensive, campus-wide renovations).
• MAJOR LEAGUE INFLUENCE: Many doubles teams are looking to find chemistry on the Carvana PPA Tour with their MLP partners.
• THE EYE TEST: The Carvana PPA Tour returns to the national spotlight on CBS from 1-3PM Eastern on Saturday, September 14. 
• SO MUCH PROGRESS: Packed draws in all disciplines with the progression draw: one round per bracket will be played each day.  

VENUE/TOURNEY/TV:

• Event #18 of the year and second trip to Georgia.  
• Defending medalists listed below will be from the May 19, 2024 Atlanta Open. 
• Broadcast start times are 11am Eastern Wednesday through Sunday. 
• National coverage also includes ESPN2 and CBS Sports Network. 
• Full coverage on Pickleball TV (Prime Video, Roku, Samsung TV Plus, LG, and many more).
• DEBUT: Pickleball Live post-game show will air immediately following the last match on center each day on PBTV.

WOMEN’S SINGLES:

• Defending medalists: Anna Leigh Waters, Parris Todd, Salome Devidze
• AL Waters (1) secured her 40th PPA singles title in Las Vegas. 
• Kate Fahey (11) has gone from corporate American Express project manager to qualifier to the 11^th seed in just one summer of play.  
• Catherine Parenteau is skipping singles in ATL, but will be in both doubles draws. 
• WATCH OUT FOR: Lea Jansen (2) – has not found the glory from two Texas titles earlier in the year – will this be the week? 

MEN’S SINGLES:

• Defending medalists: Ben Johns, Federico Staksrud, Christian Alshon
• Staksrud (1) rolled Dylan Frazier (6) in the Las Vegas Cup singles final, extending his singles run of dominance. 
• Ben Johns (2) is back in singles, is the defending champion, and seeks his 40^th singles title. 
• Quang Duong (7) – nursing an injury, but if healthy could make a run for a title. 
• WATCH OUT FOR: Hunter Johnson (20) – with more tournaments played, seed keeps improving, would get McGuffin in the round of 16 if both win their way there.

MIXED DOUBLES:

• Waters and Johns (1) have won 7 straight tournaments that they entered, including last week at the Fontainebleau. 
• Parenteau and Alshon (4) back together for tourney #3 – only previous losses are to AL/Ben. 
• Tourney #2 for Etta Wright and Augie Ge (13) – if they gel, a big run is possible. 
• WATCH OUT FOR: Tardio and Irvine (8) who have found chemistry and grabbed a title in Utah in August.

WOMEN’S DOUBLES:

• Pickles o’ plenty in Vegas for ALW and Parenteau (1) – double pickle in round 1 and game 1 pickle in the finals. 108 and 1 overall. 
• Girlies (Bright and Rohrabacher) are back together as the 2 seed – will they earn another shot at ALW/CP?
• Parris Todd and Lea Jansen (9) are playing together for the 1^st time. 
• WATCH OUT FOR: Vivienne David and Tina Pisnik (6) – will their reset ability and top-flight counters get them to the podium? Only other appearance together was in Vegas in October 2023. 

MEN’S DOUBLES:

• Tardio and Daescu (6) roll into Atlanta with back-to-back titles in SLC and Las Vegas.
• Round of 16 potential highlight of two teams that played for bronze in Vegas last week: (8) Newman/Alshon vs. (9) Garnett/Loong – the 8 seed won 11-0, 11-8.   
• DC Pickleball teammates Ignatowich and Bar (4) look to make the podium (and help Jimmy move up the Race standings – he’s currently below the cut line for men’s doubles). 
• WATCH OUT FOR: Potential quarterfinal matchup between Tardio/Daescu and the Johns brothers (2) – Johns brothers trail in the series (1-2) but won this matchup in ATL in May.