Pickleball Magazine 2019 USA National Championships | Page 13

c
os!
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By Drew Wathey
Photos by Wayne Dollard and
Stephen Jackson
I
n the world of sports, rivalries
often infuse a sense of
immediacy and intenseness
not often found when other
teams or individuals do battle. It also
conjures up thoughts and images of
days gone by where action on the
field or court offered up memories
that last for many lifetimes. Well-known
examples include Red Sox-Yankees,
Celtics-Lakers, Packers-Bears; and in
tennis, Borg-McEnroe, Connors-Lendl,
Agassi-Edberg, Evert-Navratilova and
Graf-Seles. And now, the Big Three—
Federer, Nadal and Djokovic.
While pickleball has been part of
the American consciousness since
1965, it has just recently become part
of the sports vernacular. And, along
with that rise in popularity, rivalries
have begun to surface and take root.
At the 2019 Margaritaville USA
Pickleball National Championships,
crowds were delighted with a quality
of play not often seen between the
lines. The best of the best: men’s
and women’s pro singles action was
nothing short of spectacular.
On the men’s side, two familiar
foes: the world’s top-ranked Tyson
McGuffin, and Ben Johns, who, aside
from excelling on the court, studies
materials engineering at the University
of Maryland. With an acute sense
of angles and court awareness, the
2019 Margaritaville USA Pickleball
National Championships was purely
his playground for a week. Partnering
with Kyle Yates, they defended their
Nationals doubles crown. The dynamic
duo were also coming off a win at the
US Open and have quickly become a
force to be reckoned with.
Johns’ stellar play in doubles set
the stage for advancing through to the
championship singles match against
McGuffin, clearly one of the best
Ben Johns and Kyle Yates
win gold in Men's Pro Doubles.
2019 USA NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIPS EDITION |
CONTINUED >>>>
MAGAZINE 11