Triple Crown for Parris

A thrilling week of pickleball reached a crescendo Saturday night when 24-year-old Parris Todd added the final jewel in her triple crown, teaming with Hunter Johnson to win the Pro Mixed Doubles in the finale of the U.S. Open on April 22 at East Naples Community Park.

Todd and Johnson topped Simone Jardim and Kyle Yates, 7-11, 11-5, 11-9. Todd and Johnson, down 8-6 in the deciding third game, appeared to benefit from a lengthy stop in play after Jardim-Yates appeared to have shifted the momentum after battling back from a 5-2 deficit.

Johnson was called for touching his hand in the kitchen after completing a volley. The kitchen is the 7-foot non-volley zone on either side of the net. Players cannot have their momentum carry them into the kitchen after volleying, even after the ball has left their paddle. Johnson appealed the call.

“We don't do replays,” said Terri Graham, co-founder of the U.S. Open, one of pickleball’s Grand Slam events. “Hunter Johnson called for a head referee to determine what the rule was for touching your hand in the kitchen.”

The Todd-Johnson team took five of the final six points after the delay to win the match.

Todd, a relative newcomer to professional pickleball, trained with Nick Bollettieri at the renowned Bollettieri Tennis Academy in Bradenton as a seven-year-old and eventually played on the World Tennis Association tour. She currently ranks sixth in singles and ninth in the world pickleball rankings.

Todd won the Women’s Pro Doubles title with her pickleball mentor Simone Jardim, arguably the greatest women’s player in pickleball history. Jardim, of Naples, has three U.S. Open pickleball triple crown wins on her resume. Todd relocated to Ft. Myers from her native California because, she said, “There are more players here.”  Todd and Jardim downed Megan Fudge and Bobbi Oshiro, 9-11, 11-5, 11-4.

Todd won the singles title on Sunday, April 16, over Judit Castillo Gargallo, 8-11, 11-6, 15-13.

Todd honored Jardim in post-tournament interviews.

“It's just been amazing,” Todd said. "Not only do I enjoy playing with her on court, I look up to her so much as a person and as a mom, and I just appreciate everything she's done for me.” Then she turned to Jardim and said, "I love you.”

Jardim, 43, sees Todd as a rising star in pickleball.

"Tough trouble in many ways,” Jardim said of Todd’s emergence in pickleball. “My nine-year-old is, I think, cheering for her most of the time. So, yeah, see, that's why I say big trouble there. No, I told her, you know, kids see through people pretty easily. So I know she's good people when my kid loves her, probably more than he loves me. We get to spend time together practicing, and she's just such an athlete. And for me, it just pushes me. She's pushed me to be better and be fitter and keep coming back and, you know, trying to hold my own. So it's been great. To me, it's like a new life in pickleball for sure." 

The Men’s Pro Doubles title match saw Kyle Yates and Andrei Daescu dominate Yates Johnson and Hunter Johnson, 11-6, 11-0.

The win is a bit of a comeback for Yates, even though he is just 26 years old. The Ft. Myers native once sat atop the pickleball ranking. He won the Men’s Pro Doubles championship at the U.S. Open in 2016. But Yates saw his ranking drop in recent years. He credits Daescu for getting him back on track.

“There was a time recently,” Kyle Yates said, "where I didn't have a lot of confidence in my future in pickleball, and this guy picked me up and had the confidence in me, and I appreciate him so much.”

As for Graham, she could not be more pleased with the way the U.S. Open unfolded this year.

"I think this has been the best U.S. Open we've ever had by far,” Graham said. "Yeah. Just incredible. Record crowds, a record number of players. Naples sent us gorgeous weather.”

And having such exciting matches on Championship Saturday didn’t hurt, either.

"It doesn't get much better than that,” Graham said of the finals. "I mean, how do you plan something like that?"