Carvana Arizona Grand Slam Presented by Hyundai (Main Stream) – Men’s and Women’s Doubles
Welcome to the Carvana Arizona Grand Slam Presented by Hyundai. Today's match-ups will feature the top-ranked men’s and women’s pro doubles pickleball teams worldwide, including Ben Johns/Collin Johns, Anna Leigh Waters/Anna Bright, Riley Newman/Matt Wright, Callie Smith/Lucy Kovalova, JW Johnson/Dylan Frazier, and Catherine Parenteau/Jorja Johnson.
Follow the brackets live at PPAtour.com and fill out your predictions for a chance to win up to a $250 gift card to PickleballCentral.com.
Location: Bell Bank Park (Mesa, AZ)
Men’s Doubles Draw (Top 5):
1 Ben Johns/Collin Johns
2 Riley Newman/Matt Wright
3 JW Johnson/Dylan Frazier
4 Callan Dawson/Tyler Loong
5 AJ Koller/Dekel Bar
To see the entire Men’s Doubles Draw, go to PPAtour.com.
Storylines:
- Ben and Collin Johns are the defending champions here and have won 13 times since the beginning of 2022.
- Either Riley Newman or Ben Johns has been on the winning team for the past 22 events, dating back to October 2021, when Adam Stone and Dekel Bar came away with the title at the PPA Championships in Las Vegas.
- JW Johnson and Dylan Frazier grabbed bronze at Desert Ridge and have the hands to beat the top two teams—will this be the week that they punch a ticket to Sunday?
- Note: 54-year-old Senior Pro Dave Weinbach is playing with 18-year-old Gabe Tardio. Will wisdom and youth make a potent combination together?
- WATCH OUT FOR: Dekel Bar and AJ Koller. Will these two highly-skilled athletes be able to figure out their brand-new partnership quickly enough to do some damage in tourney #1 together?
Women’s Doubles Draw (Top 5):
1 Anna Leigh Waters/Anna Bright
2 Callie Smith/Lucy Kovalova
3 Catherine Parenteau/Jorja Johnson
4 Lea Jansen/Allyce Jones
5 Irina Tereschenko/Meghan Sheehan-Dizon
To see the entire Women’s Doubles Draw, go to PPAtour.com.
Storylines:
- Callie Smith and Lucy Kovalova are the defending champions here but suffered a first-round loss to Ansboury and Oshiro last week and have been trending in the wrong direction. Can they rekindle their magic from early on in ’22?
- Anna Leigh Waters, bronze medalist in 2022 with her mom Leigh, is back with Anna Bright. They wrecked the field without dropping a single game at the ’23 Masters during their partnership debut.
- Can Lea Jansen and Allyce Jones build on their silver medal performance from Desert Ridge?
- WATCH OUT FOR: Jessie Irvine/Jackie Kawamoto. This team has never played together before, but the power of Jessie and the defense of Jackie could make for a very difficult duo. Note: Jackie Kawamoto was a surprise silver medalist with first-time partner Lea Jansen back in December ’22 at the Hertz Orlando Cup.
To see the all of the storylines for the Carvana Arizona Grand Slam Presented by Hyundai, visit ppatour.com/storylines-for-the-2023-carvana-arizona-grand-slam/
About Our Sponsors:
Carvana: Founded in 2012 and based in Phoenix, Carvana’s (NYSE: CVNA) mission is to change the way people buy and sell cars. With a continued focus on its customers, technology and innovation, Carvana offers an intuitive and convenient online car buying, selling, and financing experience. Carvana.com enables customers to quickly and easily shop thousands of vehicles, finance, trade in or sell their current vehicle to Carvana, sign contracts and schedule delivery or pickup at one of its patented, automated Car Vending Machines. Carvana is a Fortune 500 company, providing as-soon-as-next-day delivery to customers in over 300 U.S. markets. For further information on Carvana, please visit www.carvana.com.
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