The last tournament before the CIBC Finals is taking place this weekend in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. The Baird Center is hosting the Veolia Milwaukee Open Presented by Miller Lite, from Thursday, November 14th, through Sunday, November 17th.
The Baird Center is a convention center in downtown Milwaukee, so I assume the PPA Tour is using roll out courts for this event, similar to Utah and the Las Vegas Cup, earlier in the year.
With play being held indoors, weather is a non-factor for the Milwaukee Open.
How to Watch the Veolia Milwaukee Open Presented by Miller Lite
*All times are Eastern
Thursday, November 14th - Singles
- Noon - 8pm - Championship Court - PickleballTV
- Noon - 8pm - Grandstand Court - PickleballTV
Friday, November 15th - Mixed Doubles
- Noon - 8pm - Championship Court - PickleballTV
- Noon - 8pm - Grandstand Court - PickleballTV
Saturday, November 16th - Gender Doubles
- Noon - 8pm - Championship Court - PickleballTV
- Noon - 8pm - Grandstand Court - PickleballTV
Sunday, November 16th - Championship Sunday
- Noon - 6pm - Championship Court - PickleballTV
- 11am - 3pm - Bronze Medal Matches - PickleballTV
Player Availability
This is one of the last events of the year on the PPA Tour, and some players have been playing back-to-back weekends. Below is a list of the past few events and the dates players have competed in over the last month.
- 10/10 - 10/13 - PPA Guaranteed Rate Championships - Las Vegas
- 10/14 - 10/16 - MLP Las Vegas
- 10/24 - 10/27 - MLP Miami
- 11/1 - 11/3 - MLP Playoffs - Round 1 - Dallas
- 11/4 - 11/10 - PPA LAPIPLASTY World Championships
Many top pros are choosing to skip Milwaukee, due to their last month's worth of playt. Below is a list of top pros who are not playing in Milwaukee. Note - this is not an all-inclusive list, just notable players who are absent this weekend:
- Anna Leigh Waters
- Ben Johns
- Catherine Parenteau
- Tyson McGuffin
- Christian Alshon
- JW Johnson
- Jorja Johnson
- Vivienne David
- Jack Sock
- Matt Wright
- Lucy Kovalova
- Brooke Buckner
- Connor Garnett
With that being said, let’s get into the action!
Women’s Singles
Top Storylines
- 19 Anna Bright is playing singles! I assume this is to stay sharp for the final round of MLP Playoffs next weekend. Her first round matchup is against 11 Genie Bouchard, who has improved greatly over the past four months. I expect this to be the first streamed singles match of the day!
- If Anna Bright is able to beat Genie Bouchard, she is likely to face her St. Louis Shock teammate, 6 Kate Fahey in the Round of 16, which should be another electric matchup.
- Lea Jansen is the 1 seed, with ALW and Catherine out. The last time she was a 1 seed was the Utah Open, where she lost in the first round to qualifier, Marianna Petrei. I think Lea has aspirations for a deep run in Milwaukee.
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Race for the Finals Storylines
- 4 Mary Brascia is currently sitting in 9th place, on the outside looking in for the CIBC Finals. She is 325 points behind Parris Todd in 8th place. In order to pass Parris, Mary is going to have to finish two rounds better than Parris. For example, if Parris loses in the quarterfinals to Lea, Mary would need to secure at least third place to punch a ticket to the CIBC Finals.
Tice’s Takes
- I think 18 Hannah Blatt is getting better and better every week - look for her to upset 10 Ava Ignatowich.
- The last time 4 Mary Brascia and 8 Zoey Wang played each other was at the PPA Guaranteed Rate Championships in Vegas. Wang won 7-11, 12-10, 11-8. I expect more of the same from Wang in Milwaukee.
Predictions
- Semifinalists: 5 Parris Todd, 8 Zoey Wang, 2 Salome Devidze, and 6 Kate Fahey
- Finals: Parris Todd beats Kate Fahey in the finals, capturing her first gold in 2024
Men’s Singles
Top Storylines
- 11 Michael Loyd is coming off his silver medal run at Worlds and could possibly face the Johnson twins in back to back matchups. 6 Yates would be his R16 matchup and 4 Hunter would be his quarterfinal matchup.
- This field is so wide open - fix of the top 10 men’s singles players are not in Milwaukee. This feels like it is Fed’s tournament to lose. The question becomes, who can make it through the gauntlet to face him in the finals?
Tice’s Takes
- 9 Naveen Beasley is a very good player and we haven’t seen his name in the headlines much this year. I think he makes a good run in Milwaukee, beating Mo Alhouni, 5 Pablo Tellez, AND 2 Quang Duong, to make it to the semis.
- 35 Zane Ford’s status is on an upward trajectory. The tall, lanky teenager has a tough first round matchup against Ammar Wazir. If he is able to move past Wazir, 8 Aanik Lohani is waiting for him. That should be a very entertaining matchup - I will take Ford.
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Predictions
- Semifinalists: 1 Federico Staksrud, 10 Cason Campbell, 9 Naveen Beasley, and 4 Hunter Johnson
- Finals: Fed beats Hunter in the finals in two games - 11-7, 11-4
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Mixed Doubles
Top Storylines
- There are new partnerships at every turn in this mixed doubles draw:
- 1 Anna Bright and Dylan Frazier - used to do a podcast together in 2023
- 2 Rachel Rohrabacher and James Ignatowich - teammates and mixed doubles partners for the D.C. Pickleball Team
- 5 Quang Duong and Tina Pisnik - teammates and mixed doubles partners for the Texas Ranchers
- 7 Hurricane Tyra Black and Hayden Patriquin
- 8 Kate Fahey and Federico Staksrud
- 11 Lea Jansen and Max Freeman
- With no Ben or Anna Leigh, this field is wide open. With so many different new partnerships, this one feels like any of at least ten teams could take it.
- If they both make it this far, Kate Fahey could play against her St. Louis Shock teammate, Anna Bright, in mixed doubles as well - they would play in the quarterfinals.
Race for the Finals Storylines
- Rachel Rohrabacher has nearly secured the eighth and last spot in the women’s mixed doubles CIBC Finals. She is 750 points ahead of Jessie Irvine, so all she needs to do is make to the quarterfinals with James Ignatowich to lock up that spot. If Rachel falters before then, Jessie will likely have to win gold with Gabe Tardio (which they did in the Utah Open) in order to surpass Rachel.
Tice’s Takes
- 13 Parris Todd and Hunter Johnson have been playing great together lately. I expect them to upset 3 Jessie Irvine and Gabe Tardio.
- 23 Milly Rane and Noe Khlif could face 16 Jade Kawamoto and Zane Navratil in the Rd of 32. I expect the Miami Pickleball Club duo to upset Zane and Jade.
Predictions
- Semifinalists: 8 Kate Fahey/Fed Staksrud, 7 Tyra Black/Hayden Patriquin, 2 Rachel Rohrabacher/James Ignatowich, and 5 Tina Pisnik/Quang Duong
- Finals: Tyra and Hayden beat Tina and Quang in the finals, for Tyra’s first gold of the year.
Women’s Doubles
Top Storylines
- There are 28 teams in the women’s draw, so that means there are a total of 112 plays. Of those, I have never seen or heard of at least 14 players in this draw. I think there will be some lopsided scorelines in the first couple of rounds.
- 6 Zoey Wang and Jessie Irvine are teaming up for the first time. Zoey usually plays with Brooke Buckner, but she took this tournament off. Both players have the ability to play the left and Jessie hates unwinding the stack, so we could see a few different looks from this team.
- I could be wrong, but I don’t think I have ever seen Callie Smith play with Parris Todd - they are the 2 seed.
Race for the Finals Storylines
- Viv David is not playing in PPA Milwaukee, but she is in the 16th and last spot in the Finals, as of publishing, Jackie Kawamoto is 650 points behind Viv for the last spot in The Finals. Jackie and Jade would need to finish 2nd or better in order to overtake Viv David.
Predictions
- Semifinalists: 1 Rachel Rohrabacher/Anna Bright, 4 Allyce Jones/Hurricance Tyra Black, 2 Callie Smith/Parris Todd, and 5 Jackie and Jade Kawamoto
- Finals: Rachel and Anna win their eighth women’s doubles title this year over the Kawamoto sisters. With that silver medal though, Jackie sneaks into the CIBC Finals 16th and last spot, surpassing Vivienne David.
Men’s Doubles
Top Storylines
- 1 Gabe Tardio and Fed Staksrud are partnering up for the first time. They live and train in the same area in Florida, so this makes sense.
- 4 Andrei Daescu and Pablo Tellez are also a new partnership. It will be interesting to see which one of them is able to initiate offense - I am guessing Pablo will be most of this.
- With JW Johnson missing this event, Dylan picked up probably the hottest name in pickleball, Quang Duong. They are the 2 seed.
Race for the Finals Storylines
- James Ignatowich almost has the 16th, and last spot, locked up. He is 425 points ahead of Zane and 550 ahead of Tyler Loong. James is the 7 seed with CJ Klinger. They need to get third place in order to not care how Zane and Tyler do.
- Side note - there is a chance that James faces his two protégés in Ryan Fu and Max Freeman in the Round of 16.
Predictions
- Semifinalists: 5 Hayden Patriquin/Riley Newman, 4 Pablo Tellez/Andrei Daescu, 2 CJ Klinger/Quang Duong, and 6 Tyler Loong/Noe Khlif
- Finals: Hayden and Riley win their second gold together in back to back tournaments.
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