Following an exhilarating week of round-robin matches in San Diego, on Saturday the four teams that advanced to the semifinals were back in action to battle for their spot in Sunday’s final. In the first match on Center Court during the day session, the Las Vegas Smash took on the Cancun Waves in a rematch of last year’s PPL Cup final.
Taking the court first was the women’s doubles match featuring Marta Ortega (world no. 6 and former world no. 1) and Alejandra Alonso of the Las Vegas Smash who secured an early break, and 5-3 lead, in the first set against Alejandra Salazar and Veronica Virseda (world no. 15) of the Cancun Waves. After closing out the first set 6-3, Ortega/Alonso continued the momentum in the second set winning the match in straight sets 6-3, 6-3, against Salazar/Virseda to take the first match of the day for the Smash.
In the men’s doubles match, Gonzalo Alfonso (world no. 1 doubles team) and Pablo Cardona of the Smash went up against Daniel Gutierrez (world no. 10) and Teodoro Zapata of the Waves with the first set coming down to a deciding tiebreaker. With the Smash capturing the tiebreaker to win the first set, Alfonso/Cardona went down 0-2 in the second set after a quick break of serve by Gutierrez/Zapata. Later breaking back against the Waves, the dynamic duo of the Smash were able to capture a second break and the second set 7-5 to close out the match and secure the Smash’s spot in Sunday’s final.
In Saturday’s second semifinal match, things really heated in the night session with the Florida Goats going up against the New York Atlantics in a battle between two teams who made their PPL debut this year. In the first match of the night, the women’s doubles featured Aranzazu Orso (world no. 17) and Gemma Triay (world no. 3) of the Goats taking on Andrea Ustero and Virginia Riera of the Atlantics. Jumping out to a quick lead, Orso/Triay captured the first set 6-3 for the Goats against Ustero/Riera and continued into the second set with an early 3-1 break. Closing out the second set 6-3, Orso/Triay won the match in straight sets to get the Goats one step closer to advancing to Sunday’s final.
Bringing the heat in the men’s doubles match Saturday night, Martin Di Nenno (world no. 6) and Pablo Lijo took the courts for the Goats with Federico Chingotto (world no. 4) and Luis Campagnolo representing the Atlantics. Grabbing a quick break in the first set for the Goats, Di Nenno/Santos went up 2-0 against Chingotto/Campagnolo, but later were broken back by the Atlantics who forced the first set to a deciding tiebreaker. Eventually winning the first set in a tiebreaker, the Goats were not able to continue the momentum in the second set with Chingotto/Campagnolo making a strong comeback to capture it 6-2. Coming down to a deciding third set tiebreaker, the Atlantics won it 10-2 to even the team matchup 1-1 and force a deciding mixed doubles match to see who would advance to Sunday’s final against the Smash.
Taking the court at 10:00 p.m. Saturday night in the first mixed doubles match of the day, and deciding set of play, was Pablo Lima and Gemma Triay of the Goats against Virginia Riera and Federico Chingotto of the Atlantics. With Riera/Chingotto getting an early break and 4-2 lead for the Atlantics, Lima/Triay of the Goats continued to fight hard and later broke back to even the deciding set 5-5. Eventually prevailing though in an extremely close, deciding set, were the Atlantics who defeated the Goats 7-5 to win the team matchup and advance to Sunday’s final where they will face the Smash.
With Sunday’s final lineup set, the Cancun Waves will take on the Flowrida Goats in the first match of the day, and playoffs for third and fourth place, at 11 a.m. PT. Following this, the highly anticipated final between the Las Vegas Smash – the 2023 defending Champions – and the New York Atlantics will follow on Center Court at 2 p.m. PT. To see all of action live, and who will be crowned Champion in San Diego, tune-in to the PPL’s livestream on YouTube.
