Christian Alshon (L) and Andrei Daescu (R) are becoming a force to be reckoned with.
This past weekend, the Professional Pickleball Association (PPA) tour traveled to perhaps its most unique venue for the 2025 Black Desert Resort Red Rock Open. The event was held in tiny St. George, Utah, a small town in southwestern Utah, nestled next to Zion National Park and a little less than two hours from Las Vegas.
The remoteness of this site has led to some attendance issues in the past, as some players struggle with the challenges the small town has in terms of hotels and restaurants. It’s also not the easiest place to get to. Lastly for 2025, this event conflicted with the Joola Pickleball Legends Tour, which cost the draw a slew of its top players with Joola sponsorships (both Johns brothers, Bright, Buckner, McGuffin, and Wang). These missing players certainly opened up some draws, and led to some new partnerships for the event.
This event featured a scheduling modification; the draws were pushed up a day from the typical Thursday=Singles, Friday=Mixed, Saturday=Gender schedule to allow for national Fox TV coverage of the pro semis on Saturday afternoon.
Click here for the Pickleballtournaments.com home page for the event, where you can get tournament details, draw sheets, and results.
Let’s recap the action. We’re doing a skeletal recap this week due to some time constraints I have this week.
Men’s Pro Singles Recap
Clearly, there’s something in the air in Utah that Jack Sock favors. His best previous tour result was a silver medal in this event last year, and he followed up his 2024 run with a similar 2025 run. He topped No. 1 seed Staksrud in the quarters, then got a come-from-behind win over No. 3 Garnett in the semis, but couldn’t keep up the run against the tour’s hottest singles players, falling to No. 2 Hunter Johnson in the final.
Other notable results: two-time defending champ Alshon fell to Garnett in the quarters. James Ignatowich, who hasn’t medaled in singles since Feb 2023, crushed No. 4 Vich in the round of 32 and took out flavor of the month Zane Ford in the 16s before falling to No. 5 Duong in the quarters.
Gold: Hunter Johnson. Silver: Jack Sock. Bronze: Connor Garnett.
Women’s Pro Singles Recap
Anna Leigh Waters takes her 50th career pro singles title. Reminder; she’s only 18.
No. 1 Anna Leigh Waters secured her 50th career PPA singles title in dominant fashion, getting a bye into the 16s thanks to the smaller draws, then cruising to a title without being seriously challenged before the final. She defeated Jansen in the semis and Todd in the finals.
Other notable results: No. 25 Cailyn Campbell got a nice win over No. 8 Brascia early on and made it to the quarters. No. 16 Jalina Ingram had a very impressive event, topping both Truong and Bouchard before falling to Jansen in the quarters.
Gold: Anna Leigh Waters. Silver: Parris Todd. Bronze: Lea Jansen.
Mixed Pro Doubles Recap
First time Mixed golds for both Bar (L) and Todd (R) in Utah.
With her regular partner Ben Johns in Asia, Waters chose not to compete this weekend in Mixed, leaving the No. 1 seed for the Johnson siblings. They couldn’t capitalize, falling in the semis to eventual winners No. 6 Dekel Bar & Parris Todd (though they salvaged the Bronze). Christian Alshon, who is putting his name in the mix for best mixed doubles player in the land, teamed with Parenteau and claimed silver.
This is a first-time Mixed Pro gold on the PPA tour for both Dekel and Parris.
Gold: Bar & Todd. Silver: Alshon & Parenteau. Bronze: Johnson & Johnson.
Men’s Pro Doubles Recap
Christian Alshon & Andrei Daescu have teamed up four times in 2025: they now have three golds and a bronze for their efforts (good for a 19-1 record together so far). They topped the No. 1 seeds Staksrud & Patriquin in a hard-hitting final.
Some quick trends: Alshon has now made the Men’s Pro doubles gold medal match in five straight PPA events (three times with Daescu, two times with Staksrud). Staksrud has made three straight gold medal matches himself, but has lost all three. JW Johnson and new partner CJ Klinger continue to work out the kinks; they salvage bronze for their second medal together as going-forward regular partners.
Gold: Alshon & Daescu. Silver: Staksrud & Patriquin. Bronze: Johnson & Klinger
Women’s Pro Doubles Recap
No. 1 Waters & Parenteau, after a quarter-final loss in Texas, resumed their perch atop the tour with a dominant gold medal winning performance where they did not drop a game. In the final, they topped the increasingly strong Jones & Tuionetoa team 9,3,8 for their 31st Women’s Pro Doubles gold medal together.
Notable results: No. 15 Kaitlyn Christian & Christa Gecheva, more known for their singles exploits, made a nice run to the semis with solid wins over No. 3 Johnson & Black and No. 9 Brascia sisters.
Gold: Waters & Parenteau. Silver: Jones & Tuionetoa. Bronze: Todd & Rohrabacher.
Senior Open Competition Quick Recap
- Men’s Senior Open Singles: Josh Cooperman took his 12th PPA singles Pro gold medal.
- Men’s Senior Open Doubles: David Furman & Tom Tueller took the gold.
The Pro Pickleball Medal Tracker has now been updated with these results; check out this link online for a complete pro medal history for all tours and all pro events dating to the beginnings of all the major pro tours, plus pro events that predated 2020.
Next up on the Pickleball Calendar? According to my Master Pickleball Schedule, next week is a busy one for Pro Pickleball. The PPA heads to Cary, NC for the 2025 North Carolina Open (an event that’s drivable for me, so I hope to attend).
Elsewhere in the pickleball world: the APP holds its first major of the year in Fort Lauderdale, there’s a PPA Challenger in Baton Rouge, and the SPT is in San Jose, California.
