Once you've made it out of the world's busiest airport, the Peach state has plenty to offer, including food, music, and sports...including pickleball! The city of Griffin, Georgia, just 30 miles south of Atlanta, played host to the 2023 APP Sunmed Atlanta Metro Open, and all those aboard the midnight train to Georgia were treated to a peachy good time.
Dear Diary: The APP Player Blog series made it's debut in Atlanta and Vivian Glozman started things off with with an exclamation point! Catch her insightful, thought-provoking, first-hand account of what it's like for a professional pickleball player navigating the ups and downs of making their way through the brackets.
First Steps: The APP Tour is where core memories are made, but the first step is up to our players. Congrats to everyone who had a first at the 2023 APP Sunmed Atlanta Metro Open - this is just the beginning!
Ramblin' Man: Chad Edwards and Dominic Catalano may not be the Allman brothers, but they sure keep the ramblin' rollin' into commercial breaks. Watch them keep things light and fun between segments in the broadcast booth!
Food for Thought: Pros Jack Munro and Lee Whitwell know that you can't come to a pickleball tournament and not partake in shenanigans. Warmups on the other hand? Apparently optional.
What's Old is New: Pickleball is the sport that brings people together, whether they're new to your life or an old friend!
Humble and Kind: Judit Castillo took Megan Fudge all the way to a championship tiebreaker, but eventually lost, 15-13. After winning the silver in women's pro singles, she demonstrated a master class in grace.
No-hitter: Andrei Daescu and Rob Nunnery put on a clinic on Championship Sunday during the men's pro doubles match against Greg Dow and Anderson Scarpa, en route to their fifth men's pro doubles title this year. You have to be good to be lucky.
Tell Me How You Really Feel: Emotions run high in pickleball matches, and we love this reaction from Jhonnatan Medina Alvarez as he captures his first gold of the year in men's pro singles.
Third Time's a Charm: Parris Todd and Hunter Johnson are becoming quite the powerhouse couple on and off the court as they captured their third gold of the season in mixed pro doubles, after taking the second and third games from the defending champs, Daescu and Susannah Barr. And the matching periwinkle 'fits? ::chef's kiss::
Golden Girls: #FudgeBarr came all the way back from the backdraw to beat Todd and Simone Jardim, winners of eight women's pro doubles titles this year. This is the second gold of the year for Fudge and Barr, and their chemistry on the court is almost as good as their hashtag.
A Picture is Worth a Thousand Words: Fudge finished out the 2023 APP Sunmed Atlanta Metro Open with two gold medals. She admitted the Atlanta tour stop is a favorite of hers as she won gold in women's pro singles in Atlanta last year, and was especially happy to have her mom visiting on this trip, having brought her lucky socks all the way from Germany. After wrapping an exhilarating week in Georgia, we are all Megan Fudge in this pic. And the thing she's looking forward to most in Dallas next week? A few days off. Us too, Megan. Us, too.
See you next week from Dallas, Texas!
Coming to a future APP Tour stop? Use the hashtag #APPTour and you could end up featured in future Social Roundup!
