Wrapping up a wild week in Minnesota
| March 11, 2024
What an odd, strange trip it was in Minnesota at the Indoor Championships.
What started out as a week about who wasn’t there, turned into a week of firsts.
First-time partnerships.
First-time breakthroughs.
And lots of first-time gold medal winners.
Ben Johns, Anna Leigh Waters, Riley Newman, Tyson McGuffin, and James Ignatowich were just some of the names who took the week off, and there were a few who took advantage of the situation.
Notably, Thomas Wilson, Federico Stakrsud, Connor Garnett, and Rachel Rohrabacher got some quality Championship Sunday court time as each played in a pair of finals with Wilson winning in men’s doubles alongside Christian Alshon and winning in mixed alongside Vivienne David.
“Hopefully this will build the confidence,” Wilson said, although it’s hard to believe Wilson was lacking in any. He’s been a consistent medal winner on tour for much of the past year, having won seven medals since 2022 in mixed doubles.
But Sunday was his first gold with David and his first overall gold in any discipline. He had been partnering with Newman in 2024, but Newman took this week off and Wilson teamed up with Alshon.
The result was effective. Wilson grabbed two golds on the day and Alshon got his first-career first-place finish.
“First gold,” Alshon said. “Hopefully not the last. That’s for you mom,” he said to the cameras while celebrating his four-game win with Wilson over Tyler Loong and Connor Garnett.
Speaking of Garnett, what a weekend, despite not winning. Garnett might be the best player on tour yet to win gold, but he finished Sunday with a pair of silvers, falling to Federico Staksrud in the men’s final after winning the first game and giving up a large lead in the third game.
Pairing with Loong, who was also looking for his first gold, in the men’s final, the two fell to Alshon and Wilson, 11-2, 10-12, 11-9, 11-2.
On the women’s side, Rohrabacher earned her first career gold, playing alongside Anna Bright, as the two beat Callie Smith and Lucy Kovalova, 11-6, 11-5, 11-1 in women’s doubles. Rohrabacher and Staksrud earned silver in mixed doubles, losing to Wilson and David, 12-10, 11-6, 11-2.
Parris Todd had a fantastic week as well. She and Tyra Black took the bronze in women’s doubles. Todd also fell to Salome Devidze in a thriller in the women’s singles final where Todd rallied from down 8-1 and 9-4 in the third game before Devidze earned the win.
“Really, at that point, I just tried to relax,” Devidze said after giving up a big lead and then serving at 9-9. “The pressure was off me. I was trying not to think. The best I play is when i don’t think too much. I just wanted a clear mind.”
Devidze’s gold was her first of the year on the PPA Tour and her second-career PPA singles win. Todd was going for her second-career PPA win. She beat Anna Leigh Waters in the final in Orange County, Calif., in June of 2022.
No one has been more consistent in men’s singles than Staksrud. He’s made all four finals this year and now has two golds to go along with two silvers. After losing the first game, Staksrud was down 7-1 in the second game. From there, he scored 23 of the next 27 points and came back for a 4-11, 12-10, 11-2 victory.
“I was feeling bad for the people who came here, because I wasn’t giving them anything,” Staksrud said. “I was down, but pickleball is crazy, one good point can change your mind.”
Meanwhile, other breakthroughs include Hayden Patriquin, who got the medal stand for the first time since last July, teaming up with Callan Dawson and taking bronze in men’s doubles.
