“ Credit to them , they played a fantastic match . I never played Anna Leigh before , so it was fun to step on the court with her and play here and make it to the finals ,” said Fudge .
More than 3,200 players representing all 50 states and 31 countries converged on the courts in Naples , the largest number of participants in the event ’ s history . The players ’ ages ranged from 7 to 85 years old . The sport is unquestionably attracting players from numerous generations .
Johnson ’ s sister , Jorja , made easy work of the women ’ s singles bracket , coasting to a quick 11-2 , 11-3 win over Megan Fudge for the title . Prior to that , she ably handled Jardim 11- 4 , 11-4 and Jenna Hessert , 11-0 , 11-1 .
Over on the men ’ s side , Jack Foster battled Chris Haworth , but held on to take home the singles crown , 11-5 , 11-4 .
Perhaps one of the most electrifying matches at the US Open was the men ’ s doubles final featuring the 2nd seeded team of Andrei Daescu and Gabriel Tardio going up against the top seeds Dylan Frazier and JW Johnson .
Having won their previous two matches against them , Frazier and Johnson were nonetheless determined to get out quick and early , but it didn ’ t go according to plan . The rangy Daescu was tough to pass , and playing alongside the quick and agile Tardio , they jumped out to a 7-2 lead . Johnson and Frazier fought back , tying it up at 9 , before Tardio split the pair with a winner down the middle to take the first game 11-9 .
“ I tried to be more patient , more dinking … and waited for the right time to speed it up . They ’ re a great team and we knew we had to come back and not get behind so early ,” said Johnson .
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Karin Ptaszek-Kochis took the title over Spencer Moorman in Women ’ s Senior Pro Singles .
PHOTO BY BELINDA DETTMAN
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