The Orlando Squeeze (from L-R Rohrabacher, Daescu, Navratil, and Bright) take the Premier title in ... [+]
It feels like years since we last saw Major League Pickleball (MLP) in action, given the busy pro pickleball schedule this summer, events of the past few weeks and the three month gap since MLP 2023 Season 1 finished up in San Clemente in late June. But the sport’s most exciting format was back in action at the amazing Life Time tennis facility in Peachtree Gardens outside of Atlanta for the first event of the 2023 Season 2. The teams have redrafted from the first half, there’s new partnerships and new lineups, and the event was at near full-strength in terms of talent across the pro landscape.
For the two weeks between “tour wars 2023” and “re-merger” the buzz of pickleball world was possible mass boycotts of this MLP event. Those worries largely dissipated once the two tours came back together, but there were some rumblings earlier in the week that two players in particular (Julian Arnold and Lauren Stratman) were planning on boycotting the event, on the advice of counsel. Then just ahead of the event, Stratman took to social media on behalf of herself and her beau Julian to announce that whatever issues they had, were resolved, leaving the MLP premier division basically full strength.
Just two challenger players were initially called up to replace premier players for this event: Allison Phillips was called up by Miami to cover for the ill Mary Brascia, and Kyle Yates was called up by Utah to cover for AJ Koller (who has a family wedding). Midway through the event, Megan Dizon fell ill and was replaced by the resurgent Tina Pisnik, while an injury to one teenager (Hayden Patriquin) led to another teenager (Gabriel Tardio) subbing in.
Key Links for tracking the event this weekend, which featured livestreams of all four concurrent courts on MLP’s YouTube channel and its semis and finals broadcast on ESPN2 on Sunday 9/25/23.
Premier League Recap
Riley Newman (L) led his DC team to the finals. Here he competes in Men's doubles with Christian ... [+]
Challenger League Recap
The SoCal Hard Eights (from L-R Klinger, Fought, Radzikowska, and Newell) take the challenger ... [+]
Wesley Burrows may not be a household name, but he left an impression this weekend in Atlanta.
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Next up on the Pickleball Calendar? According to my Master Pickleball Schedule, ... next weekend the APP is back in action right here in Atlanta. Also next weekend is the next Senior Pro Tour event in San Diego as well as the APP-affiliated Australian Pickleball Championships in Sydney.
Next up for the MLP? Their next event is the first week of November in La Quinta, California.