Pickleball returned to its birthplace of Seattle, Washington this past weekend for the PPA Seattle Open. Not only was it exciting to see how far the sport has come since its origin, but new partnerships added intensity and excitement for viewers. Some new partnerships struggled to find the chemistry needed to beat out the experienced teams, while some new partnerships created enough chaos to upset some of the top seeded teams.

Thursday: Men's and Women's Singles

Men’s and Women’s Singles kicked off professional play on Thursday. In the Men’s draw, the one seed of Ben Johns barely made his way into the finals. In the quarterfinals, Jaume Martinez Vich gave Johns a run for his money, dropping 13-15, 6-11. In the semifinals, Johns faced Connor Garnett in one of the best singles matches of the year. Johns bested Garnett in three games, winning 10-12, 14-12, 11-8 to make his way to Championship Sunday. On the other half of the draw, Federico Staksrud remained unbeaten in games as he made his way into the finals past Ryan Eveloff. It was a Team JOOLA final as Johns and Staksrud battled it out, with Johns securing gold 11-4, 11-6. In Women’s play, Anna Leigh Waters continued her dominance on the singles court by cruising her way into Championship Sunday. Lea Jansen made her way to the semifinals where she handily beat Yana Newell, 11-1, 11-0. Going into Championship Sunday to face Waters, Jansen announced that this tournament would be the last singles tournament of her career. Although Jansen wanted to go out on top, Waters got the best as she took her first gold of the day with a three-set victory over Jansen, 10-12, 11-0, 11-3.

Friday: Mixed Doubles

Mixed Doubles continued the excitement for the weekend, with experienced partnerships showing their strengths. Anna Leigh Waters and Ben Johns, only losing one match the whole year, continued their dominance by easily making their way to the semifinals. In the semifinals they faced the hometown duo of Lindsey and Riley Newman, who gave them a solid battle but ultimately lost in three sets to Waters/Johns. On the other half of the draw, Anna Bright and James Ignatowich made their way past Vivienne David and Thomas Wilson in the semifinals to claim their spot in Championship Sunday. Ignatowich/Bright put up a strong fight, but Waters/Johns continued their strings of defeat, claiming the title in four sets 11-4, 7-11, 11-4, 11-6.

Saturday: Women's Doubles

The last events of the weekend were Men’s and Women’s Doubles. In Women’s play, Anna Leigh Waters and Anna Bright, undefeated on the season, made their way past Jessie Irvine and Jade Kawamoto to claim their spot in the finals. On the other half of the draw, the new partnership of Jackie Kawamoto and Vivienne David barely fought off the duo of Yana Newell and Lauren Stratman to also earn a spot in Championship Sunday. With a new partnership facing an experienced one, experience proved to be stronger, as Waters/Bright claimed gold with an 11-7, 11-0, 11-8 victory.

Saturday: Men's Doubles

In Men’s Doubles, chaos struck the draw as we saw many new partnerships making their debut. Most of the new partnerships stemmed from a domino effect after Riley Newman and Matt Wright called it quits on their long time partnerships. Riley Newman teamed up with Julian Arnold to make a run to the quarterfinals before dropping to the more experienced partnership of Federico Staksrud and Pablo Tellez. Patrick Smith and Darrian Young faced the one seed of Ben and Collin Johns in the quarterfinals and claimed a huge upset victory, beating the Johns brothers 4-11, 11-5, 11-7. Smith/Young also dropped to the duo of Staksrud/Tellez in the semifinals. On the other half of the draw, JW Johnson and Dylan Frazier easily made their way into the semifinals where they faced Matt Wright and Jay Devilliers. Johnson/Frazier easily handled Wright/Devilliers as they claimed their spot in Championship Sunday with an 11-6, 11-2 victory. On Championship Sunday, Staksrud/Tellez and Johnson/Frazier duked it out, with Johnson/Frazier taking the championship in four sets, 11-7, 11-7, 8-11, 11-3. Patrick Smith and Darrian Young went on to claim the bronze.The PPA Tour will take no breaks as it returns right away to Fountain Valley, California for the PPA Takeya Showcase 8/3-8/6.Link to the full results here.

Medal and Equipment List

Medal List:Ben Johns: Gold – Men’s Singles, Gold – Mixed DoublesFederico Staksrud: Silver – Men’s Singles, Silver – Men’s DoublesPatrick Smith: Bronze – Men’s DoublesAnna Bright: Gold – Women’s DoublesLea Jansen: Silver – Women’s SinglesEquipment List:Ben Johns: Ben Johns Perseus CFS 16Collin Johns: Collin Johns Scorpeus CFS 16Federico Staksrud: Anna Bright Scorpeus CFS 14Patrick Smith: Ben Johns Perseus CFS 16Anna Bright: Anna Bright Scorpeus CFS 14Lea Jansen: Ben Johns Perseus CFS 14