Golden girls Catherine Parenteau and Lea Jansen win Women ’ s Pro Doubles . Andrea Koop and Irina Tereschenko took silver .
Photo by Bruce Yeung ; IG : @ YEUNGPHOTOGRAPHY
Brothers Ben and Collin Johns retake the gold in Men ’ s Pro Doubles . Matt Wright and Riley Newman took silver .
Photo by Bruce Yeung ; IG : @ YEUNGPHOTOGRAPHY
Recently , Racquet Sports Industry magazine named the Minto US Open Pickleball Championships Powered by Margaritaville the 2021 Pickleball Tournament of the Year .
The US Open is not just any tournament on the yearlong national pickleball schedule , but for men ’ s singles play it may appear that way . Sitting atop the medal stand was who else but Ben Johns , the world ’ s top-ranked player . But , breathing down his neck is a tournament-hardened and fierce competitor — JW Johnson . He gave Johns , the Maryland native , all he could handle in the finale . Taking the first game 11-5 , Johnson was poised to capture perhaps the game ’ s most prestigious title . He was on the precipice of upsetting Johns and had him on the ropes before losing the second game 12-10 . He would eventually lose the third and final game 11-7 but certainly gave Johns a run for his money .
Reflecting on his performance , Johnson took a highly detailed look at their play in the final . “ I think [ Ben ] called some good time-outs . When we went back and broke the match down , we actually won an equal number of points , so he played better on the bigger points . He ’ s just a great , experienced player . I was happy with my performance and effort though ,” said Johnson . Pablo Tellez ended up with the bronze medal .
Whenever he ’ s entered in an event , there ’ s always the possibility that Johns will walk away with Triple Crown honors — winning gold in singles , doubles and mixed doubles . Well , that ’ s exactly what happened at the Open for the second straight year . After taking gold in singles , the 23-year-old , paired with big brother Collin , won the doubles crown by defeating the tandem of Matt Wright and Riley Newman , coming back from a second-game loss to capture the third and final game , 11-4 . Then , he breezed to an easy straight-game win over Jessie Irvine and Tyler Loong in mixed doubles with his partner Simone Jardim , 11-5 , 11-2 .
On the women ’ s side , hometown favorite Catherine Parenteau , ranked second in the world in women ’ s singles and doubles , has made Naples her home for nearly three years and her play at the Open this year further solidified herself as a crowd pleaser . Having never medaled in singles before at this major event , Parenteau met her doubles partner , Lea Jansen , in the final and captured the first game , 11-4 . But she found herself quickly behind in game 2 . “ I remember calling a time-out at 4-0 down in the second game and I feel like it was a huge turning point in a way , because it completely
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MAY / JUNE 2022 | MAGAZINE 41