Melbourne Pickleball Cup Sets Finals After Thrilling Semifinals
What's the Score?
Melbourne, Australia – The Melbourne Pickleball Cup successfully built steady momentum over three full days of competition, culminating in high-stakes semifinal matches that determined the lineup for Championship Sunday. The field for the finals is now set across all five divisions, featuring several familiar rivals who survived gruelling battles. Notable semifinal upsets included Hien Truong’s dramatic comeback in Men’s Singles and Roos van Reek saving late points to advance in Women’s Singles.
Hit it deeper!
The tournament, which opened with singles on Thursday, quickly ratcheted up the intensity. The semifinals on Friday and Saturday narrowed the fields significantly.
In Women's Singles, the final will feature Roos van Reek against Sahra Dennehy. Dennehy earned her spot with a composed performance, defeating Andie Dikosavljevic 14–12, 11–5, utilising steady pace and sharp angles. Van Reek, however, had a far more challenging route, needing three full games to overcome Danni-Elle Townsend (8–11, 14–12, 11–8), narrowly saving critical points in the second game to stay in the match.
The Men's Singles final will pit Hien Truong against Hoang Nam Ly. Ly delivered a remarkably composed victory over Theo Platel (11–0, 11–5), showcasing his quick changes of pace. Truong’s path was more dramatic; he dropped the first game to Jimmy Liong (3–11) before stabilising and winning the next two (11–8, 11–7), highlighting his patience and defence. The final is anticipated to be a stylistic contrast between Truong’s patience and Ly’s speed.
Doubles play confirmed the dominance of certain pairings throughout the weekend. The Women’s Doubles final will feature the two standout teams: Roos van Reek and Turulja against Danni-Elle Townsend and Nicola Schoeman. Both pairs advanced with nearly identical dominant semifinal scorelines of 11–3, 11–4. In Men’s Doubles, the final sees Wong and Kim challenge Farias and Laville, both advancing with clean play in the semis. Wong and Kim defeated Truong and Do (11–9, 11–4), while Farias and Laville beat Wild and Wall (11–9, 11–5).
The tournament will conclude with the Mixed Doubles final, featuring four players who have dominated their respective brackets across the weekend: Wild and Townsend take on Schoeman and Mitch Hargreaves. Schoeman and Hargreaves had to survive a tough three-game test in the bracket earlier, winning 11–9, dropping the second 1–11, then closing out the decider 11–7 against Wall and Dennehy.
Championship Sunday will kick off with bronze medal matches, including Dikosavljevic meeting Katie Morris in Women's Singles. The final session promises strong rallies and familiar rivalries, bringing together players who have found their rhythm at the crucial moment.
The World Pickleball Verdict
The Melbourne Pickleball Cup demonstrates a robust and high-quality competitive circuit outside of the established US leagues. The sheer number of three-game thrillers, particularly in the singles semifinals, indicates a high parity of skill among the top Australian players. The consistent emergence of players like Roos van Reek, Sahra Dennehy, and Danni-Elle Townsend across multiple medal matches (singles, doubles, and mixed) shows a current reliance on these athletes to carry the load, underscoring the high demands of the modern pro format. The resulting Championship Sunday features definitive clashes of style, proving that the Australian pickleball scene is not just growing in size, but in strategic depth and competitive maturity, setting a promising tone for the sport in the Asia-Pacific region.