M/W Doubles Goes True to Form
| July 11, 2023
Despite a WILD men’s singles draw, the crowded men’s doubles field went remarkably smoothly on Saturday. The quarterfinals featured the top eight (8) seeds, narrowed from 41 to start the day. We saw only one major upset of the day, and it didn’t happen on the court. Tyson McGuffin was battling illness all weekend, which forced him and his partner Tyler Loong, the number 4 seeded team, to withdraw after making it to the quarterfinal match against AJ Koller and Thomas Wilson. The rest of the quarterfinals went to the top-seeded teams:
- #1 seeds Riley Newman and Matt Wright cruised all day, never dropping a game. In the quarters, they gave a not-so-gentle lesson to youngsters, Hayden Patriquin and Wyatt Stone, the #8 seed.
- Johns brothers, Ben and Collin, the #2 seeds, were delayed mid-match by rain, but ended up handling veteran partners, Spencer Smith and lob-monster Callan Dawson, 11-6, 11-1.
- In the last quarterfinal, new partners Dekel Bar and JW Johnson warded off a strong challenge from Kyle Yates and Patrick Smith.
The semifinals held true to form as the top two seeds won their respective games, with Newman/Wright defeating Koller/Wilson 11-6, 12-10, while Johns/Johns had to battle back after a grueling first-game loss to Bar/Johnson, 12-14, 11-7, 11-2.
On the bottom half of the draw, Patrick Smith and Kyle Yates came to life and earned a bronze medal berth against Bar/Johnson. However, the new pairing proved too strong for Smith/Yates, as Dekel Bar and JW Johnson captured a repeat win over their opponents and claimed the bronze in straight games, 11-7, 11-6.
In the women’s draw, the 13 pairings played fairly true to form as well. The semifinals featured the top 4 seeds. In the first match, #1 seeded Lucy Kovalova and Callie Smith won a 3-game battle royale over Catherine Parenteau and Lea Jansen, 9-11, 11-6, 11-6. In the other semi, the Waters, Leigh and Anna Leigh, returned after a 6-week break that was focused on rest and recuperation to roll over the #3 seeds, Lauren Stratman and Irina Tereschenko.
Battling all the way through the back draw as the newly partnered up 6th seeds, Jessie Irvine and Anna Bright pulled out the bronze medal victory, 11-5, 11-6, over #5 seeded Meghan Sheehan-Dizon and Allyce Jones. With a promising 3rd place finish, it will be interesting to see if Irvine/Bright partner in future PPA tournaments.
