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In August , Gabe Tardio , who turned pro in 2021 , made a major statement by winning his first-ever gold medal in men ’ s doubles with partner Federico Staksrud at the PPA in Kansas City . Interestingly enough , in the gold medal match — against his frequent practice partners JW Johnson and Dylan Frazier — Tardio was seen chowing down on a slice of pizza during a time-out .
“ I thought it was funny ,” says Frazier . “ Gotta fuel the body !”
Later in the month , minus the bench pizza , the 19-year-old Tardio followed up his Kansas City triumph by winning gold in men ’ s doubles with 38-year-old partner Andrei Daescu at the PPA in Utah , while also taking gold in mixed doubles with Jessie Irvine .
“ We do a good job of balancing each other out ,” says Irvine . “ Gabe is calm , but he still likes to have fun on the court . He ’ ll joke around to keep tense moments light , while still being focused and intense .”
Daescu says he likes to play with PPA ’ s 11th ranked doubles player Tardio because , “ He complements my game in a lot of ways . Most obvious one by being a great right-side player , considering I mostly play the left . His counterpunching ability frees me up to play my game at the kitchen line .”
“ Gabe is playing on the right side differently than any player before ,” says one of Tardio ’ s frequent competitors , Zane Navratil . “ He ’ s able to contort his wrist in ways that other players can ’ t . That gives him a wider variety of shots he can hit , and a wider variety of shots his opponents need to cover .”
“ I think one of the reasons my wrist is so flexible is because I played tennis for eight years ,” says the lightning-quick-handed Tardio . “ My tennis strokes have
always involved a lot of wrist , so that has made it strong and flexible .”
He was a former Top 10 junior tennis player in his home country of Bolivia , and discovered pickleball when a lot of others did — during the COVID-19 pandemic . “ When COVID hit , and my tennis academy shut down , my dad started to play pickleball and he convinced me to go with him ,” Tardio recalls . “ He later pushed me to take it seriously , because he saw something in me .”
Currently a member of the St . Louis Shock in the MLP , and still a teenager ( with a “ high ceiling ” according to Irvine ), the 6.85 DUPR rated Tardio spends at least an hour and a half a day on the practice court honing his skills .
“ I ’ ve been working on my drives and drops , because I ’ ve realized you can gain a lot of free points setting up your partner to crash off a good drive or drop ,” he explains . “ Also , because when they ’ re avoiding you , when you are already at the kitchen line , it ’ s really hard to get yourself involved .”
In other words , he is controlling what he can control . BTW , players try to avoid him a lot !
“ When I realize they are avoiding me , I try to pinch middle as much as possible , giving the opponents a smaller target ,” Tardio says .
He has also been in the gym trying to build up extra muscle and put on some weight — and we ’ re positive more ham and cheese pizza will help with that ! •
Rick Cipes is the host of the “ Bite Size Pickleball ” podcast and newsletter , and author of the books “ How to Play Better Pickleball ” and “ 11 Ways of the Athletic Warrior ,” both available through Amazon .
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