Jack Sock may be the future of men’s singles on the PPA Tour, but Ben Johns is certainly the present.
Now, on the women’s side? Well, let’s just put a pin in that and circle back later, because for the second-consecutive tournament, the bracket is wide open.
Johns beat Sock in a wild, three-game circus of a match that included challenges, trick shots, smiles, laughter and more. Even Johns, who generally plays with the emotion of someone who is listening to a dissertation on the newest in paint drying dynamics, was laughing more than the people on the front row at a Dave Chappelle show.
And mind you, this was a semifinal – a chance at playing in a Championship Sunday final – a first match between the two, and it was full of cut-ups and giggles.
Johns won the first game, 11-3, rallying from an 8-3 deficit. Sock won the second game, 11-5, and then in the third, things turned before Johns went on to an 11-5 clincher.
Johns asked Sock if wanted to play a rally left-handed, Sock agreed, and Johns won the point.
“Sadly, he missed the return,” Johns said.
But Sock hasn’t missed too much since deciding to play full-time on the tour this season. He secured a bronze medal in 2024 and came into Austin, Texas, as a dangerous No.12 seed. Sock…
