The Veolia Atlanta Pickleball Championships moved into sharper territory on Thursday, with major upsets in the men’s draws, steady progress from the leading mixed and women’s doubles seeds, and five quarter-final brackets now set for Friday.
- Tama Shimabukuro produced the headline shock, beating Federico Staksrud in men’s singles before helping knock out a top men’s doubles seed
- Men’s singles and men’s doubles saw the clearest disruption, while mixed doubles and women’s doubles held firmer at the top
- Friday’s quarter-finals now offer a clear mix of top-seed pressure, lower-seed momentum, and dangerous matchups across all five brackets
Shimabukuro delivers the day’s biggest jolt
Tama Shimabukuro gave Atlanta its clearest headline.
The No.22 seed came from a game down to beat No.2 Federico Staksrud 6-11, 11-8, 11-9 in men’s singles, removing one of the tournament’s strongest names before the quarter-finals.
He was not finished there.
Later in men’s doubles, Shimabukuro and Yuta Funemizu, seeded 19th, beat No.2 seeds Christian Alshon and Hayden Patriquin 4-11, 11-5, 11-8.
One upset can be explained away as timing. Two in the same day, against that level of opposition, is harder to ignore.
Men’s singles loses its shape
Men’s singles produced the most unsettled draw of the day.
No.1 Christopher Haworth handled his business, beating Jay Devilliers 11-3, 11-2. Around him, though, the bracket shifted.
No.35 Matthew Barlow beat No.9 Gabriel Joseph 11-9, 3-11, 11-5. No.41 Luc Pham edged Donald Young 11-3, 9-11, 11-8. No.11 Noe Khlif removed No.6 Roscoe Bellamy 11-9, 11-8.
That leaves Friday with a much less predictable quarter-final slate.
Haworth faces Barlow. Connor Garnett meets Pham. Shimabukuro plays Khlif. Hunter Johnson takes on Rafael Lenhard.
The top seed remains, but the bracket around him looks nothing like a routine march.
Men’s doubles takes a hit
Men’s doubles also lost a major anchor.
Alshon and Patriquin’s defeat to Shimabukuro and Funemizu was the result that changed the bottom half of the draw. It immediately opened space for teams who would otherwise have been staring at one of the event’s strongest pairings.
There was another significant result lower down, with No.13 Connor Garnett and Roscoe Bellamy beating No.3 CJ Klinger and JW Johnson 4-11, 12-10, 11-4.
At the top, Ben Johns and Gabriel Tardio moved through safely, beating Tyler Loong and John Lucian Goins 11-4, 11-7.
The quarter-finals now carry different pressure. Johns and Tardio remain the leading reference point, but the draw beneath them has become far less orderly.
If you’re following how the global game is shifting week by week, the World Pickleball Report breaks this down every Wednesday.
Women’s singles sees lower seeds move
Women’s singles did not have one result as loud as Shimabukuro over Staksrud, but the draw still moved.
No.9 Judit Castillo beat No.5 Lea Jansen 11-3, 11-4. No.11 Kiora Kunimoto beat No.8 Liz Truluck 11-4, 11-4. No.12 Sahra Dennehy beat No.6 Catherine Parenteau 11-6, 11-4.
Those are not bracket explosions. They are clean lower-seed advances, and they matter because of what they set up next.
Anna Leigh Waters now faces Castillo. Brooke Buckner meets Kunimoto. Kate Fahey plays Dennehy. Kaitlyn Christian faces Chao Yi Wang.
Waters remains the clear standard-bearer, but three of the four quarter-finals now include players carrying upset momentum.
Mixed doubles stays closer to order
Mixed doubles was the more stable bracket.
Waters and Johns beat Augustus Ge and Mari Humberg 11-1, 11-7. Jorja Johnson and JW Johnson beat Meghan Dizon and Hunter Johnson 11-5, 11-4. Anna Bright and Hayden Patriquin held off Sahra Dennehy and Tama Shimabukuro 12-10, 11-4.
The cleanest pressure point may come in the quarter-finals.
Waters and Johns face Staksrud and Kate Fahey. Rachel Rohrabacher and Christian Alshon meet Parris Todd and Andrei Daescu. Jorja and JW Johnson play Catherine Parenteau and Gabriel Tardio. Bright and Patriquin face Tyra Hurricane Black and Will Howells.
There were no major collapses here. The intrigue is whether the top seeds can keep it that way.
Women’s doubles holds firm
Women’s doubles was the cleanest top-end bracket of the day.
Anna Bright and Waters beat Brooke Buckner and Milan Rane 11-6, 11-7. Rachel Rohrabacher and Catherine Parenteau beat Danni-Elle Townsend and Sahra Dennehy 11-0, 11-4. Jorja Johnson and Tyra Hurricane Black beat Jessie Irvine and Judit Castillo 11-4, 11-6.
Kate Fahey and Parris Todd were also clinical, beating Alex Walker and Lauren Stratman 11-0, 11-5.
The only lower-seed push came from Mari Humberg and Liz Truluck, who beat Alix Truong and Chao Yi Wang 11-1, 11-9.
Friday now brings Bright and Waters against the Kawamotos, Rohrabacher and Parenteau against Lacy Schneemann and Etta Tuionetoa, Johnson and Black against Tina Pisnik and Meghan Dizon, and Fahey and Todd against Humberg and Truluck.
What to watch on Friday
The quarter-finals have a different feel across each bracket.
Men’s singles is the most open. Men’s doubles has lost two major seeds. Women’s singles has several lower-seeded players arriving with confidence.
Mixed doubles and women’s doubles are more orderly, but that brings its own pressure. When the top seeds all survive, the next round asks whether they can keep control against stronger opposition.
That is where Atlanta now sits.
The easy rounds are gone. The draw has enough favourites to stay serious, and enough disruption to stay dangerous.
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Further Reading
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- Tournament coverage and results
- Rankings and player profiles
- Regional pickleball coverage
Chris Beaumont is the founder and Editor-in-Chief of World Pickleball Magazine. Chris follows the global game closely, reporting on the latest news, developments, stories and tournaments from all five continents. He also hosts the World Pickleball Podcast, interviewing people at all levels of pickleball. Chris is also an avid player, currently struggling to make the breakthrough from 4.0 to 4.5.