Stats-Wrap: Preview to Desert Ridge Finals
| July 11, 2023
Spotlight Stat: Anna Leigh Waters is going for a “golden triple crown,” three titles without losing a game in the tournament.
=== MEN’S SINGLES ===
Ben Johns has won three straight events, and five out of seven.
Johns is 4-0 here, 9 games, (lost one game to Julian Arnold), 40 points allowed.
Staksrud is 4-0 here, 9 games, 48 points allowed.
Johns beat Staksrud at the Masters final, 11-6, 11-6.
=== WOMEN’S SINGLES ===
Anna Leigh Waters has not lost since last June. She has won eight of the past nine events.
Waters is 3-0 here, 6 games, 29 points allowed.
Waters was 6-0 in PPA finals against Parenteau in 2022.
Catherine Parenteau has medaled in five of the last six events, including a gold at the Takeya Showcase in November.
Parenteau is 3-0 here, 6 games, 21 points allowed.
Parenteau beat Waters to win the PPA Championship in October 2021.
=== MEN’S DOUBLES ===
Either Riley Newman or Ben Johns has been on the winning team in all of the past 21 events, dating back to October 2021, when Adam Stone and Dekel Bar won the PPA Championships.
Since this event a year ago, Ben & Collin Johns have won 12 events together.
Johns/Johns have beaten Newman/Wright in the finals of the last two PPA events.
Newman/Wright beat Johns/Johns to win the Takeya Showcase in November, (6-11, 11-5, 11-7, 11-4) In that match, Johns/Johns had more errors on serves/returns/third shots, 12-1, and more volleys into the net, 21-11.
=== WOMEN’S DOUBLES ===
The big news is not a stat, but a quote. In a podcast on “The Kitchen” last week, Waters revealed she would alternate partners in women’s doubles for the first quarter of the season, Catherine Parenteau and Anna Bright.
This news will create a ripple effect in women’s doubles brackets, as now both Parenteau and Bright will not have consistent partners, and neither will their partners. We will see a greater variety of pairings over the next few tournaments.
Catherine Parenteau/Anna Leigh Waters:
3-0 record here, 6 games, 22 points allowed.
Parenteau/Waters won the Hertz Championship in December in Orlando, beating Lea Jansen and Jackie Kawamoto in the final, 2-11, 11-6, 11-3, 11-6.
Lea Jansen/Allyce Jones:
#4 seeds went 3-0, 7 games, 30 points allowed.
Jones: first PPA final.
Jansen: won two PPA women’s titles last year: North Carolina in May w/ Parenteau and the Round-Up in October w/ Jessie Irvine. Can Jansen apply anything she learned in the Hertz final in December against this duo?
=== MIXED DOUBLES ===
Ben Johns and Anna Leigh Waters:
3-0 here (one forfeit), 6 games, 24 points allowed.
Johns and Waters won 12 events together last year.
Their only head-to-head final against their opponents last year was in DC in October, Waters/Johns winning 11-5, 11-7 in a 2-of-3 format for CBS coverage.
Lucy Kovalova and Matt Wright:
4-0 here, 11 games, 78 points allowed.
Kovalova/Wright fended off a match point vs Bright/Newman in the semis.
Lucy & Matt’s last title was at the Takeya Showcase in November 2021, beating Riley and Lindsey Newman. They are 0-6 in finals since then (all in 2022)
