The Report
No. 55 Burnel reaches Chicago’s last eight
Good morning, pickleballers.
Emilien Burnel’s Chicago run now includes three main-draw victories and a quarter-final place. After beating Hunter Johnson in the opening round, the No. 55 seed has also eliminated JW Johnson and is one win from the semi-finals.
Today we stay with the Veolia Chicago Cup, where the early upsets are shaping the closing rounds. Two lower-seeded men’s doubles partnerships will meet for a place in the last four, while CJ Klinger and Kiora Kunimoto have removed the fourth seeds in mixed doubles.
No. 55 Burnel reaches the quarter-finals
Emilien Burnel defeated JW Johnson 11-9, 5-11, 11-7 on Thursday, adding a third victory to a campaign that began with his upset of third seed Hunter Johnson.
He now faces No. 30 seed Camden Chaffin, who beat Cason Campbell 11-7, 12-10. One of them will reach the men’s singles semi-finals.
Burnel has followed his opening breakthrough with two more wins, and Friday brings a direct opportunity to carry that run into the weekend.
Read the full Chicago reportTwo surprise runs. One semi-final place.
Anouar Braham and Bruno Faletto followed their victory over Ben Johns and Jack Sock by beating Kenta Miyoshi and Clayton Powell 9-11, 11-6, 11-8.
John Lucian Goins and Mohaned Alhouni also advanced, eliminating fifth seeds Will Howells and Andrei Daescu 11-9, 9-11, 13-11 after removing Hunter Johnson and Collin Johns in the previous round.
The two partnerships now meet, guaranteeing either the 27th or 21st seeds a place in the last four. Elsewhere, Jaume Martinez Vich and Nicolas Acevedo eliminated fourth seeds Tama Shimabukuro and JW Johnson.
Klinger and Kunimoto remove the fourth seeds
CJ Klinger and Kiora Kunimoto recovered from a narrow opening-game defeat to beat Rachel Rohrabacher and Andrei Daescu 11-13, 11-3, 11-7.
The 19th seeds now face fifth seeds Eric Oncins and Tyra Hurricane Black. Ben Johns and Anna Leigh Waters, Anna Bright and Hayden Patriquin, and Jorja Johnson and JW Johnson also remain in contention.
In women’s singles, Isabella Dunlap beat Lea Jansen 11-4, 6-11, 11-7 and faces Brooke Buckner. Kate Fahey meets Catherine Parenteau, while Waters takes on Judit Castillo.
Six matches worth watching
Burnel vs Chaffin: A men’s singles semi-final place for either the No. 55 or No. 30 seed.
Braham/Faletto vs Goins/Alhouni: Two lower-seeded partnerships meet after successive victories over higher-seeded opposition.
Klinger/Kunimoto vs Oncins/Black: The mixed doubles outsiders face another top-five partnership.
Fahey vs Parenteau: The second and seventh seeds meet in women’s singles.
Staksrud/Patriquin vs Newman/Khlif: The top men’s doubles seeds face the seventh seeds.
Waters/Bright vs the Kawamoto sisters: The leading women’s doubles partnership has conceded only two points across four games.
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