Number 3 on my “Top Ten APP Moments Countdown”
#3 APP Pro Tour Year End #1’s…
The APP Pro Tour in 2023 saw a mixture of seasoned professionals and new faces emerging on the scene as we greatly expanded our television market having all Championship Sundays featured either on ESPN or CBS Sports Network.
This year saw 16 tour stops for the Pro’s Tour taking these professionals coast to coast battling one another from Punta Gorda to Sacramento here in the U.S., and internationally in England, Spain, Sweden, India and Australia.
New this year, final year end rankings were divided out evenly between singles, doubles and mixed allowing for that elusive triple crown that was only achieved once by Parris Todd. (Newport Beach)
All of these players will be recognized and honored for their achievements at the APP Awards Banquet Dinner January 19 in Punta Gorda, Florida.
Let’s take a closer look at this year’s #1’s and some behind the scenes insight of what I saw in their games this year.
APP Men’s Pro:
Singles- Hunter Johnson
Doubles- Andrei Daescu
Mixed-Andrei Andrei Daescu
APP Women’s Pro:
Singles- Salome Devidze
Doubles- Simone Jardim
Mixed- Susannah Barr
Hunter Johnson-The dominant male player this year in singles with his greatest rivalry perhaps coming from his twin brother, Yates Johnson. Hunter matured as a player throughout the season playing his best match I felt in November at the Chicago U.S. Indoors defeating a red hot Christopher Haworth to finish the season and clinch the #1 singles ranking.
APP Total Gold Medal Count 13.
Andrei Daescu-The Number 1 Men’s Doubles and Mixed Doubles player this year, Andrei was a force to be reckoned with. A consistent partnership with Rob Nunnery, they were practically unbeatable and were clearly the #1 men’s doubles team on APP. Andrei also partnered with Susannah Barr for the majority of his mixed events in 2023, taking gold with her at several tour stops. In both his doubles and mixed doubles play, I have seen his ability to not only dominate the court, but be very deceptive with his dinks and speed ups. His improved hand speed and sense of anticipation is what separated him from the field this year.
APP Total Gold Medal Count 19
Salome Devidze-APP’s dominant women’s singles player, Salome’s game continued to improve as she trained very hard off court for overall better fitness and foot speed on the court. An aggressive baseline, she has improved her transition game winning I felt her best final of the year at The APP New York City Open.
APP Total Gold Medal Count 6
Simone Jardim-She often tells me she is considering retiring, but this young lady keeps winning. Often referred to as the G.O.A.T, Simone established a dominant partnership with Parris Todd throughout the year, but proved her versatility by capturing titles with newcomer Allison Harris in New Jersey and Next Gen’s National Team standout Riley Bohnert at Chicago U.S. Indoors. What does Simone do so well? Two things…
She has that “eye of the tiger” fight in her and is one player I seldom see panic, especially during crucial points.
APP Total Gold Medal Count 10
Susannah Barr-I highlighted Susannah a few months ago on how I felt she was the most improved female APP pro this past year, and gladly she proved me right. A tenacious player, Susannah was the most consistent mixed doubles female player this year, winning several tour stops with Andrei Daescu. However, it is the one match of hers I witnessed on a late Sunday afternoon at The USTA Billie Jean King Tennis Center, where she and Rob Nunnery won the title and the New York crowd was screaming her name, as my match of the year for Susannah.
APP Total Gold Medal Count 11
Congratulations to all pros that played on the APP this year. The 2024 tour kicks off in a few weeks at The APP Punta Gorda Open January 17-21.
