he names in the 2019 Minto US Open
Pickleball Championships winners
circle may be the same as 2018, but
the competition they faced to retain
their dominance in the sport grew
exponentially over the course of the
year.
With 2,161 players descending upon Naples,
Florida, the April 27-May 4 event outdid itself again
and proved that fierce competition and fun go
together wherever the pickleball community goes.
Spectators were treated to an entire roster of
new competitors entering the event, each with
backgrounds and skills that proved they deserved
to be on the courts. Yet even with these new
players, the top finishers from 2018 rallied to
return to the 2019 finals.
World #1-ranked singles players Tyson McGuffin
and Simone Jardim kicked off day one by retaining
their Open titles and securing their spots on the
world leaderboards.
McGuffin and Ben Johns both
reached the final without dropping
a single game along the way. In
the final, McGuffin traded hard
passing shots for a cat-and-mouse
dink strategy that proved too difficult
for Johns to capitalize on, resulting in
McGuffin walking away with an 11-5,11-7
Men's Final victory.
In the Women’s Final,
Jardim found herself
up against Irina
Tereschenko. Jardim,
a Brazilian native who
resides in Naples,
put on a show for her
hometown crowd. Using
her laser-like passing
shots, she won the Final
11-4,11-9 against her
top rival.
Continued on next page >
Simone Jardim and
Kyle Yakes won gold
in Mixed Pro Doubles
defeating Lucy
Kovalova and Matt
Wright 9-11, 11-8, 11-6.