Phoenix Suns ’ Footprint Arena ( 2.45 million ), and Chase Field ( 2.2 million ) where MLB ’ s Arizona Diamondbacks play ball .
Arizona ’ s love of pickleball knows no bounds as it has spilled over and caught the love and attention of some of the world ’ s finest athletes . Former Cardinals wide receiver and surefire first-ballot NFL Hall of Famer Larry Fitzgerald , who even has a pickleball court in his backyard , leads a formidable list of the current owners of the MLP franchise AZ Drive . Joining Fitzgerald are Devin Booker of the Phoenix Suns and Olympic legend Michael Phelps along with country music star Dierks Bentley . “ Being the Arizona team and having the Arizona territory , I wanted to make sure I was including a collective group of people who really value what Arizona stands for , value the ideals that we all hope Arizona residents would embody ,” Fitzgerald said .
Cool and windy conditions punctuated the landscape in the early rounds of the tournament followed by a more temperate climate that greatly enhanced the quality of play for the semifinals and championship rounds .
The winning L . A . Mad Drops team ( l to r ): Julian Arnold , Thomas Wilson , Irina Tereschenko and Catherine Parenteau .
In the Challenger Level bracket , the Bay Area Breakers , featuring Ewa Radikowska , Rachel Summers , Pablo Tellez and Christian Alshon , had a tough battle in the semifinals , going five games before beating the Atlanta Bouncers , 21-11 , in the final game . “ I knew Pablo and I were going to be a team to be reckoned with and was told Ewa and Rachel were both underrated , which was proven to be true ,” said Alshon . So true in fact that Radikowska took home MVP honors due to her stellar play at MLP Mesa . “ Pablo made two insane forehand winners against Hunter Johnson , the favorite in that matchup . These winners set the tone for the rest of the game . I went for a questionable — if there is such a thing — tweener at 15-5 , but I talked to my team after , and they were OK with the tweener because they know that ’ s what you get when you have me on your team ,” joked Alshon . In the finals , the Breakers beat a Utah Black Diamonds team with Michelle Esquivel , 21-19 , 21-19 , 21-18 .
One of pickleball ’ s true veterans , Irina Tereschenko , led a Los Angeles Mad Drops team of Catherine Parenteau , Julian Arnold and Thomas Wilson into the semifinals in the Premier Level and was set to face Jessie Irvine and Collin Johns of the Florida Smash . All three games could not have been tighter as the Mad Drops came away winners with three identical scores of 22-20 . “ What a match ! The net on center court had a camera mounted to it on the center strap — it made the strap super-firm — and 9 out of 10 net cords did not go my way , but the one on match point did and resulted in an unreturnable lob over Jessie ,” said Tereschenko .
That set the stage for the Mad Drops in the finals and a highly anticipated match with the New York Hustlers , a team made up of Anna Bright , Lacy Schneemann , Rafa Hewett and the player with enough energy to light up a small city , Tyson McGuffin . The Hustlers were coming off a thrilling fivegame win over the Ben Johns-led Seattle Pioneers , winning 21-18 in the final game . It took four hardfought games to dispatch the Hustlers , with the Mad Drops taking the final game 21-12 . L . A . dropped only one game throughout its entire
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MARCH / APRIL 2023 | MAGAZINE 39