REGIONAL matters
STARS SHINE AT INAUGURAL FRANKLIN NEW YORK CITY OPEN
Association of Pickleball Professionals ( APP ) Tour hosted signature event at USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center May 25-29 .
By Daniel Sagerman
The APP Tour delivered one of the sport ’ s most Men ’ s Pro Doubles , and Mixed Pro Doubles . On the exciting tournaments in May when it hosted women ’ s side , Andrea Koop and Parris Todd both the Franklin New York City Open at the USTA advanced to two separate gold medal matches ( Koop : Billie Jean King National Tennis Center . Women ’ s Pro Doubles and Mixed Pro Doubles , Todd :
The five-day event marked the first-ever pickleball Women ’ s Pro Singles and Women ’ s Pro Doubles ). tournament held at the historic venue .
Todd took home the Women ’ s Pro Singles gold and Nearly 1,500 professionals and amateurs competed Navratil bested Johnson in the Men ’ s Pro Singles final . in the event , with the pro fields competing for their
Koop and Simone Jardim won gold in Women ’ s Pro share of a $ 125,000 prize pool — the largest in APP Tour Doubles while Johnson and Navratil teamed up to earn history and largest for a pickleball tournament in
Men ’ s Pro Doubles gold . To wrap up pro competition , the United States — and an automatic spot in the USA siblings JW and Jorja Johnson won the Mixed Pro Doubles
Pickleball National Championship Series Tournament in January through its designation as a Golden Ticket event .
“ One of my visions for growing the sport has been to build a bridge between tennis and pickleball ,” said Ken Herrmann , founder and CEO of the APP Tour . “ Having the partnership with USTA and the Billie Jean King National Tennis Center was a significant step in that direction .”
Four full days of competition featured events at the pro , senior pro , super senior pro , and amateur levels . Top-ranked pros JW Johnson and Zane Navratil each earned gold medal match berths in three separate events : Men ’ s Pro Singles , Parris Todd claims the women ’ s singles title in New York City , along with the $ 10,000 payout .