STORYLINES FOR THE HERTZ GOLD CUP POWERED BY TIXR

OVERALL TOP 5:

• RACIN’ TO THE FINALS: Last chance to earn points to qualify for the PPA Finals in San Clemente 
• PICTONA PART DEUX: PPA returns to Holly Hill for the 2^nd time in ’23 (1^st time was in March)
• NO POPPA JIMMY: Sitting this one out
• J DUB: JW Johnson looks for more medals after great results in Dallas (gold singles/silver men’s), but is a last-minute scratch from singles – tournament fatigue?
• DURA-BALL: Players will have to adjust back to using the Onix Dura Fast 40 (X-40 in Dallas)

BROADCAST & VENUE HIGHLIGHTS (all times Eastern): 

• Thursday-Saturday: Amazon Prime Video and PickleballTV.com 10:00am-6:00pm ET
• Championship Sunday: Amazon Prime Video and PickleballTV.com 10:00am-6:00pm ET; Tennis Channel 2:30-4:30pm ET
• The Pictona location in Holly Hill gets its name from combining Pic(kleball) and (Day)tona. 

MEN’S SINGLES:

• MEDALISTS IN MARCH at Pictona: Ben Johns, Collin Shick, Pablo Tellez
• Over 100 players competing in men’s singles – will we get another Shick-like performance?
• Wow, top half of the draw: Johns (1), Garnett (4), Martinez Vich (9), Tellez (8) 
• WATCH OUT FOR: Potential Frazier (11) vs. Alshon (6) matchup in the round of 16 

WOMEN’S SINGLES:

• MEDALISTS IN MARCH: Catherine Parenteau, Lea Jansen, Salome Devidze
• Parenteau beat Waters in March in the semis here but is sitting out singles, playing doubles
• WATCH OUT FOR: Mary Brascia (3) – full of confidence after reaching the women’s doubles final in Dallas

MIXED DOUBLES:

• MEDALISTS IN MARCH: Waters/Johns, Parenteau/McGuffin, Devilliers/Irvine
• Big fella Siljestrom takes Big Poppa’s place next to Bright (7). 
• Jorja Johnson/JW Johnson (3) – the only team to beat ALW/Ben Johns this year.  
• WATCH OUT FOR: Smith/Frazier – can they rebound from a tough Dallas event?

WOMEN’S DOUBLES:

• MARCH MEDALISTS: Waters/Parenteau, Schneemann/Jade Kawamoto, Jansen/Jones
• A rested Lea Jansen plus Hurricane Tyra Black (7) are a dangerous duo. 
• Allyce Jones/Lauren Stratman (5) – unique pairing, how will they fare?
• WATCH OUT FOR: Bright and Jardim (4) – can they make a run?

MEN’S DOUBLES:

• DEFENDING MEDALISTS: Johns/Johns, Arnold/Wilson, Johnson/Frazier
• Dekel Bar is this week’s auditionee next to Riley Newman as the #4 seed
• McGuffin/Brendan Long running it back – they won the St. George event in April over Bar/C. Johns
• WATCH OUT FOR: Matt Wright and Travis Rettenmaier (3) – how will the “old” guard gel?