Eveloff Passes ‘Challenges,’ Earns First Semifinal on PPA Tour

Twice, during his matches Thursday, and once more after a match, Ryan Eveloff had his paddle challenged.

“It doesn’t bother me at all,” he said.

It kind of makes sense that AJ Koller and then Pablo Tellez both questioned Eveloff’s paddle. After all, Eveloff hadn’t had much success on the PPA Tour, so Thursday’s run in Seattle in the men’s singles bracket had to be attributed to something.

Right?

“Yeah, it just means I’m hitting the ball well,” Eveloff admitted.

You could say that. He hit the ball really well. Eveloff, a former tennis player from Scottsdale, Ariz., who played in tennis academies in both Florida and California, made his first PPA semifinal with an impressive run through some pretty big names. 

“I just played my game,” he said. “I was thinking way too much in previous matches. Today, I said I was going to play free, have fun, and see where the dice fall. That’s exactly what happened.”

Koller challenged the legality of Eveloff’s paddle during the first-round match. The paddle passed. The paddle was challenged again in the second round by Tellez. The paddle passed again.

Eveloff went on to a quarterfinal win against JW Johnson and after the match, Johnson challenged Eveloff’s paddle, but the challenge was disallowed as challenges have to be issued during a match. Either way, it was victories against Koller, the 6th-seeded Tellez, and then against the 3rd-seeded Johnson. Each of the failed paddle challenges results in a $200 fine for the players who issued them.

Eveloff went on to lose in the semifinals against second-seeded Federico Staksrud and then in the bronze medal match against Connor Garnett. The bronze for Garnett is his third medal of the season in men’s singles and adds to the two silver medals he already has.

“Not really,” Eveloff said when asked if he was surprised about his success Thursday. “I believe in myself. That’s why I’m here. I want more. I’m playing well, but I want more.”