The Report
Barcelona has two singles champions. Now they play beside the finalists.
Good morning, pickleballers.
Barcelona has its first professional singles champions. Judit Castillo won the women’s draw without dropping a game, while Jhonnatan Medina Alvarez took the men’s title after Krisztian Kaszoni’s emphatic quarter-final win over Zane Navratil changed his path.
Today brings an unusual sequel. Castillo partners Hannah Blatt and Medina Alvarez joins Grayson Goldin, the opponents they beat for gold last night. Professional doubles begin at 9:00 am in Barcelona. This is a special Saturday Report after yesterday’s announced weekend pause.
Two champions. Two reunions with Friday’s finalists.
Castillo defeated Blatt 11–8, 11–3 to complete a straight-games run through the women’s singles draw. Medina Alvarez beat Goldin 11–7, 11–2 for men’s gold after surviving deciding games against James Ling and Kaszoni.
Kaszoni supplied Friday’s sharpest disruption, beating Navratil 11–2, 11–2 in the quarter-final. He lost to Medina Alvarez in the semi-final, then to Mikołaj Biedermann in the bronze match. One of the day’s defining wins did not lead to a medal.
Both champions have built careers in the United States and have strong ties to Spain. Saturday pairs each with Friday’s runner-up, giving the opening event of PPA Spain an immediate second chapter.
Read: Barcelona’s singles results and doubles previewYesterday’s opponents are today’s partners.
The published men’s doubles bracket pairs Medina Alvarez with Goldin. In the women’s draw, Castillo partners Blatt. Their singles finals are useful context, but Saturday will ask different questions about positioning, roles and how quickly each partnership settles.
Navratil also returns alongside Matteo Cugliari, another player Kaszoni beat in singles, while Kaszoni joins Adrián Jimenez Pueyo. Morris, the women’s singles bronze medallist, partners Olivia McMillan. The tournament schedule lists both professional doubles events from 9:00 am Barcelona time.
Follow the official Barcelona drawsWaters approaches 200 as Las Vegas draws take shape.
Anna Leigh Waters enters the Rate Las Vegas Open on 198 PPA Tour titles. She reunites with Anna Bright in women’s doubles and Ben Johns in mixed, while the men’s doubles draw brings Johns and Gabriel Tardio back together opposite a field that includes Arizona champions Christian Alshon and Andrei Daescu.
The event starts on Monday. Our preview tracks the returning combinations, changed partnerships and the contenders looking to carry their Arizona form into a new week.
Read: Las Vegas draws and storylinesFive numbers from Barcelona
2 Professional singles champions crowned on Friday in Barcelona. 0 Games dropped by Castillo across her women’s main-draw title run. 11–2 Score of each game in Kaszoni’s quarter-final defeat of Navratil. 2 Saturday doubles teams pairing a singles champion with Friday’s finalist. 9:00 Scheduled start for men’s and women’s professional doubles, Barcelona time.The context behind this weekend
Before Barcelona began. Our five-draw preview asked whether the new European tour could produce meaningful competition beneath its leading entrants. Friday’s singles supplied its first evidence.
Read WPM’s Barcelona draw preview →
Why Spain matters. PPA Spain opens a seven-event national circuit in a country that already has several competing routes for players.
Read: PPA Spain’s wider place in Europe →
Another team test ahead. MLP’s Nations Cup brings eight regional rosters to Dallas in late October, with the question of how quickly they can become effective teams.
Read: Eight rosters, one Nations Cup →
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