Judit Castillo was down 7-0 in the second game against Irina Tereschenko in her women’s semifinal Thursday night before finally getting a point.
She raised her arms in victory. Hey, why not? It was a bit out of exasperation and was a moment of comic relief in the loss.
“Sometimes you win, sometimes you lose,” Castillo said. “I got better today.”
Yeah, you could say that. You could also say Castillo has gotten a lot better in a hurry. A virtual unknown at the beginning of the PPA 2023 season, Castillo has now made consecutive semifinals, has gotten drafted into Major League Pickleball, and has an impressive upward trajectory that resulted in a bronze medal Thursday.
Castillo lost to Tereschenko, but she went on to beat Mary Brascia in the third-place match, 3-11, 11-4, 11-9 for her first PPA medal.
The No, 7 seed coming into the Denver Open, Castillo rolled through her first two matches without losing a game and then dropped the first game against No. 2 seed Lea Jansen before rallying for a 2-11, 11-6, 11-8 quarterfinal victory. The win included scoring the final three points of the match after a controversial call at 8-8 that Castillo called out and Jansen was unable to challenge because she was out of timeouts.
“It was a great competition and a lot of fun,”…
