The APP Tour resumed play this weekend in Mesa, Arizona, at the APP Mesa Open. Professional play began with cold and windy conditions on Thursday with Men’s and Women’s Singles. As a rare entrant into the draw, pickleball veteran Simone Jardim was competing on the women’s side. Although Jardim has a collection of accolades in singles, she rarely plays the event anymore due to risk of injury. However, even after not playing a singles tournament in quite some time, Jardim breezed her way into the winner’s bracket final, upsetting the #1 seed. After waiting for her opponent for quite some time, Jardim didn’t feel comfortable continuing play due to risk of injury and her opponent, Megan Fudge, moved on to Championship Sunday. Salome Devidze worked her way out of the back draw to face Fudge in the final, beating her in best of three sets and in the tiebreaker to walk away with gold.In Men’s Singles, Hunter Johnson made his usual run to Championship Sunday where he faced Eduardo Irizarry, a relatively new player on tour. Hunter Johnson defeated Irizarry 11-5, 11-5 to earn gold.Hunter Johnson made his second appearance of the day in mixed doubles, working his way out of the backdraw alongside partner Parris Todd. Johnson/Todd faced off against the duo of Andrei Daescu and Susannah Barr who had made their way to the finals in the winner’s bracket. In the final, Johnson/Todd were able to force the tiebreaker game to fifteen but eventually fell 15-6 to Daescu/Barr. JOOLA player Milan Rane took home the bronze alongside partner Brendon Long.In his last appearance of the day, Hunter Johnson partnered up with his twin brother, Yates Johnson in Men’s Doubles to battle against the new partnership of Andrei Daescu and Pesa Teoni. Teoni, an Arizona native, had the crowds behind him as he made his first Championship Sunday debut. The twin brothers battled in the final, forcing the game to 15 after a tightly contested three-set match but were unable to finish the job as Daescu/Teoni secured the gold.In Women’s Doubles, Simone Jardim and partner Parris Todd handily made their way to the finals where they faced Susannah Barr and Megan Fudge. Jardim/Todd had previously defeated Barr/Fudge in the main draw, and were able to do so again in the final 11-4, 12-10. Rachel Rettger and partner Shelby Bates earned bronze, falling to the duo of Barr/Fudge.Professional play continues with the PPA Red Rock Open, starting on Wednesday, April 5, in Saint George, Utah.PLAYER EQUIPMENT:Simone Jardim: Simone Jardim Hyperion CFS 16 SwiftMilan Rane: Solaire CFS 14Rachel Rettger: Simone Jardim Hyperion CFS 14 Swift