No. 15 men’s singles seed Christopher Haworth of Edmond, Oklahoma, pulled the upset of the day at the Professional Pickleball Association’s Virginia Beach Cup.
He knocked off No. 2 Federico Staksrud of Argentina 12-10, 11-2 to reach a quarterfinal against No. 8 John Lucian Goins on Friday at Pickleball Virginia Beach, located at 928 South Birdneck Road. No. 1 Hunter Johnson and No. 3 Connor Garnett, who faces former tennis star No. 6 Jack Sock, are the highest seeds remaining.
In women’s singles, world No. 1 Anna Leigh Waters of Delray Beach, Florida, kept her hopes of a three-championship repeat intact, rolling past No. 17 seed Ava Ignatowich 11-0, 11-6. Meanwhile, No. 24 Samantha Parker upended No. 6 Lea Jansen 11-5, 7-11, 11-9 to advance to a quarterfinal versus No. 4 Brooke Buckner.
In men’s doubles, top-seeded Ben Johns and Gabriel Tardio led the way to the quarterfinals. The tandems remaining also include fifth-seeded Tyson McGuffin, one of the most followed players on tour (in part because of “The McGuffin Show” on YouTube), and Dekel Bar.
In women’s doubles, all of the top eight seeded pairs advanced, led by No. 1 Waters/Anna Bright and No. 2 Jorja Johnson/Rachel Rohrabacher.
In mixed doubles, top-seeded Waters and Johns advanced to a semifinal against No. 7 Tina Pisnik and Andrei Daescu, whileNo. 2 JW Johnson and his sister Jorja earned the right to face No. 4 Parris Todd and Christian Alshon, a former Virginia Cavaliers men’s tennis player.
Pro action is scheduled to resume at 10 a.m. Friday on PickleballTV and at 1 p.m. on the Tennis Channel.
Both singles champions in this second annual event will make $3,330 apiece, and the runners-up will gain $1,832. But in men’s, women’s and mixed doubles, the champs will split $9,000 and the second-place finishers will divide $4,950. Money goes down to players who make the round of 16 in each bracket.
