The draws for the Veolia Cincinnati Showcase, set to begin on September 8 at the Lindner Family Tennis Center in Mason, Ohio, have been released for all divisions.
The tournament will take place at the Lindner Family Tennis Centre, which recently underwent a $260 million renovation, making it one of the finest racquet sports venues in the US. This is a Slam tournament with the points and prestige of being one of only four Slams on the PPA Tour. Top picklers will compete at the event.
Waters-Bright to bounce back?
After Jorja Johnson and Tyra Black broke the monopoly of Anna Leigh Waters and Anna Bright in Las Vegas, there is much anticipation about the rematch. The top-seeded Waters and Bright, and Johnson and Black, have been placed in two different halves of the draw. Hence, if they meet, it will be deep into the tournament.
But en route, Waters and Bright will face a tough challenge from third-seeded Rachel Rohrabacher and Lea Jansen, as well as sixth-seeded Jade and Jackie Kawamoto.
In the bottom half of the draw, Catherine Parenteau and Parris Todd have been seeded second. With fifth-seeded Etta Tuionetoa and Allyce Jones, 12th-seeded Brooke Buckner/Zoey Wang, seventh-seeded Kate Fahey and Tina Pisnik, and ninth-seeded Mari Humberg and Lucy Kovalova placed in this half, it will not be smooth sailing for the Johnson-Black pair.
Johns-Tardio to dominate!
In men’s doubles, the top-seeded duo of Ben Johns and Gabe Tardio will look to continue asserting their dominance over the field. The duo received a favorable draw. With JW Johnson returning to action, he has been seeded fourth along with CJ Klinger. There is a possibility of a semifinal meeting between the two pairs.
The second-seeded Federico Staksrud and Hayden Patriquin, and third-seeded Christian Alshon and Andrei Daescu, have been placed in the bottom half of the draw.
Despite Johns and Tardio’s domination, there is expected to be a lot of competition. In the Round of 32, Jack Sock and Donald Young will take on Connor Garnett and Zane Navratil. The Sock-Young duo is the hardest-hitting in the draw. While Garnett and Navratil can certainly hit with power, they are expected to rely on their superior placement skills to keep Sock and Young in check.
If they both win their early-round matches, #7 Riley Newman/Jay Devilliers will face #9 Eric Oncins/Matt Wright. It will be one of the very few times Newman and Wright have played each other since their well-publicized 2024 partnership breakup. Expect some smack talk to be exchanged in that one.
Can anyone beat Waters-Johns?
Anna Leigh Waters and Ben Johns form the unquestionable pair of mixed doubles. The question is: will any pair be able to beat them? The best possible challengers are Catherine Parenteau and Christian Alshon, and Rachel Rohrabacher and Noe Khlif.
In the bottom half of the draw, Jorja and JW Johnson are placed. They have beaten Waters and Johns in the past, and there is a possibility of a duel in the final. Black and Hayden Patriquin have been seeded sixth. However, it will be interesting to see how opponents apply themselves against Waters and Johns.
Anna Leigh Waters returns
Anna Leigh Waters will make a comeback to singles action in Cincinnati, and the obvious question is whether anyone can beat her. Fourth-seeded Parris Todd is on her side of the draw. Can Parris beat Anna?
Second-seeded Kate Fahey is the other difficult player to beat in the draw. Her main challenger will be Kaitlyn Christian.
Ben Johns seeded fifth
No doubt, the men’s singles is the most competitive event at a pickleball tournament. Ben Johns has been seeded fifth, and he will face 57th-seeded Chris Haworth as his first-round opponent. Among other much-anticipated clashes are Zane Ford vs Grayson Goldin, Gabe Joseph vs JW Johnson, and the second-seeded Federico Staksrud vs Alex Crum. Crum has beaten Staksrud twice in a row, and he will look to make it three in a row in Cincinnati.
Last week in Las Vegas, 17-year-old Johns Lucian Goins clinched the title.
It will not be an exaggeration to say that there are 40-50 players in the men’s singles draw who are perfectly capable of winning the gold medal.