The Report
Four Finals, One Player and Vietnam’s Biggest Day
Good morning, pickleballers.
Two tournaments reach their conclusions today, and both have arrived at a final day rather less predictable than the brackets once suggested.
In Da Nang, Lý Hoàng Nam faces four finals as Vietnam prepare to meet the United States for the Open World Cup title. In Cary, Jorja and JW Johnson have beaten Anna Leigh Waters and Ben Johns for the second successive year, ending the triple-crown pursuit and changing the shape of Championship Sunday.
By the time Vietnam face the United States in Sunday evening’s Open team final, Lý Hoàng Nam may already have played for three titles.
His day begins against Phúc Huỳnh in an all-Vietnamese men’s singles final. He then partners Roos Van Reek in mixed doubles before joining Nguyễn Ảnh Gia Huy in the men’s doubles final. The Open final is scheduled to begin only 80 minutes later.
Four appearances would be demanding under any circumstances. These require Hoàng Nam to move between singles, two different doubles partnerships and the changing combinations of a national-team tie, with recovery windows that may shrink as the programme unfolds.
Vietnam have already learned what happens when control disappears. The Netherlands and Australia both forced them into Final Battles. The hosts survived each, then responded by beating Japan 4-0 in the semi-final without needing either singles match.
Hoàng Nam is the face of the day. The larger question is whether Vietnam’s depth can protect him from carrying too much of it.
Preview all eight World Cup finalsThe Johnsons have broken Cary’s script again
Anna Leigh Waters and Ben Johns do not lose often enough for coincidence to pass unnoticed.
For the second successive year in Cary, Jorja and JW Johnson found a way past the partnership that has defined mixed doubles. The siblings recovered from losing the opening game to win Saturday’s semi-final 4-11, 11-9, 11-6.
Jorja’s early counters and JW’s reach through the middle gradually narrowed the court. By the deciding game, the Johnsons were no longer waiting for mistakes. They were creating the pressure themselves.
The result removed Waters and Johns from the mixed doubles final and ended both triple-crown opportunities. It also placed Jorja at the centre of Championship Sunday. She and JW will face Anna Bright and Hayden Patriquin in mixed doubles before she partners Tyra Hurricane Black against Waters and Bright in the women’s final.
The rarest part of the job has been completed. As JW said after the match: “Job’s not done.”
Preview all five Cary finalsReaching Sunday only changes the question
Vietnam have survived the difficult part of the World Cup draw, but must now decide how much responsibility one player can carry across four finals. The Johnsons have beaten Waters and Johns again, but that achievement guarantees neither of the titles they can win today.
The semi-finals revealed who could disrupt the expected order. Sunday decides who can turn disruption into something permanent.
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