The end of the 2023 PPA season finished like it started.
Without a surprise.
What did we learn from this past weekend’s Tour Championship?
And what should we expect in 2024?
Women’s singles
What we saw: Total domination. Anna Leigh Waters won again. OK, not a surprise. She lost just one match all season in singles, to Tyra Black, and wrapped up the year with 15 titles, beating Catherine Parenteau Sunday in San Clemente, Calif.
What’s going to happen in 2024: Waters isn’t going anywhere and to suggest she won’t continue her dominant ways would be foolish. But with the merger of the PPA and MLP, we will start to see new faces and new styles in women’s singles. That means more Salome Devidze, Megan Fudge, Jenna Hessert, and others who could step up and challenge Waters. Of course, Parenteau, who had a match point against Waters in Dallas at the National Championships, isn’t any slouch either. Lea Jansen, who has said she won’t be playing any more singles, had a fantastic season in 2023. We’ll see if she changes her mind and makes a return to the discipline.
Men’s singles
What we saw: No. 1 Ben Johns did it again. He lost his opening match on Thursday and then was perfect after that, beating Christian Alshon in three games on Sunday…
