(upbeat music)
- [Announcer] Good day, it's Morgan Evans here
for Pickleball Channel.
We're here at the inaugural PPF tournament
at The Lakes Country Club in Palm Desert, California
where we've got the final of the women's doubles pro event.
(upbeat music)
Christine McGrath and Simone Jardim are taking on
Christine Barksdale and Gee Gee Garvin.
Simone and Christine here,
coming from the winner's bracket final,
so with Ms. Barksdale and Ms. Garvin.
Managed to beat them in the best two out of three to 11.
They will go to a 15 point tie break.
Already we've got a good looking dink rally happening.
Some short sharp exchange there.
McGrath to serve at one zero two.
- [Woman] Point.
- [Announcer] Looked like there might have been
some slight miscommunication with Gee Gee coming up
quite close to Christine after the return of serve.
- [Man] Out.
- [Announcer] And looked like it just tagged
one of the players on the way through.
That's a good way to get a cheap point.
All four of these players are good friends
but there's no love lost
when the heat of competition starts.
- [Announcer] Got Christine Barksdale serving now.
Score is zero three one.
- [Announcer] McGrath looking to dink into the center here.
Not wanting to open up too many angles
for the ladies to expose.
- [Woman] Zero three two.
- [Announcer] That's a deceptively tough shot.
A player standing tall having to get down--
- [Woman] Three zero one.
- [Announcer] For a low one and take it as a volley.
- [Woman] Sorry.
- [Announcer] And Simone, that ball certainly was out,
it was just a hidden call from the linesman here,
anyway, Barksdale gets tagged.
And that net certainly getting
testing for endurance early.
- [Woman] Five zero one.
- [Announcer] Five zero one, off to a flying start.
Simone Jardim and Christine McGrath.
The green team, we'll call 'em.
Coming in at six zero one.
- [Woman] Six zero one.
- [Announcer] That's a beautiful fair ball
and Simone's just ready, waiting to pounce
when those low balls get set up.
- [Woman] Seven zero one.
- [Announcer] Arguably the greatest player
in the female circuit at the moment.
- [Woman] Point.
- [Announcer] All four of these players coming
from strong tennis backgrounds.
And you've got to wonder what the Barksdale/Garvin
team have got to do to change the momentum.
I'd say at least a time out is in order.
Simone just gets down so low for these ones.
And there's an inside out, no look backhand.
That's almost rude, some would say.
- [Woman] Nine zero one.
- [Announcer] Nine zero one.
We're looking for a complete shut out.
Beautiful.
There's a flat footed look
to the Barksdale/Gavin duo at the moment.
Need to get some energy into this.
- [Woman] 10 zero one.
Point and game.
- [Announcer] And it's short but sweet.
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That's just the first game.
Then we'll be having a couple of minutes break.
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The crowd is ready and I'm ready.
Zero zero two.
Let's see what kind of comeback
Barksdale and Garvin can play.
She's got 'em in a lob.
I think first order of business is isolate
the player they feel is the weakest.
- [Woman] One zero two.
[Announcer] One zero two and they are stacking
to keep Gee Gee Garvin in the middle,
I believe feeling that her middle forehand.
That's fast paced, great hands from all the ladies there.
- [Woman] Zero one one.
- [Announcer] Often when you're up at that kitchen line,
it's the player that can stay the lowest,
keeps their eye level as consistent
and can dig out those low balls.
I think your average player watching this
is going to want to incorporate a low and agile body height
to ensure that their legs are ready to move left
and right early and you can dig out the low balls
without having to get down for it.
And it's a beautiful put away, forehand volley.
Right down the middle.
As they say, down the middle solves the riddle.
- [Woman] One zero two.
- [Announcer] One zero two.
And side out.
Christine, she's getting a lot
of attention from the ball today.
Must have a small Dura-40 magnet hidden
somewhere on her body.
It looks like they're isolating Christine McGrath.
- [Woman] Point.
- [Announcer] I spoke to Christine just before the match
looking for some fun facts and she said she's played
more tournaments pregnant than not pregnant
and she now officially has more children than gold medals.
I think she was joking about the last part.
- [Woman] Second serve.
- [Announcer] Alright.
- [Woman] One one two.
- [Announcer] One one two is the score.
Christine Barksdale does have one of the more
unorthodox dink games but it's very effective.
Oooh and the net plays a role there.
Very difficult to be able to react quickly
when you're in the heat of an exchange
to a ball that's being slowed down by the net.
Two one two.
That's a lovely rip in the net, again.
It's a great strategy to use the net like that.
Wouldn't recommend teaching it, though.
Three one two is the score.
- [Woman] High shot.
- [Announcer] That's a beautiful high forehand swing volley.
Backhand volley.
- [Woman] Four one two.
- [Announcer] Four one two and they're heading
back over to McGrath.
Lovely eyes.
One of the best shots you'll ever play in pickleball
is the one you don't hit.
Five one two and that's an easy area.
You've got to make them work for it.
At this top level, so often it's just the team
that does the basics the best.
There's a lovely forehand down the line.
Players often defending the middle more than anything else
and when someone who is as experienced
as Christine Barksdale sees that,
they can easily change direction, get down the line.
- [Woman] One six one.
- [Announcer] One six one.
They've got some work to do here.
- [Woman] Second serve.
- [Announcer] And it looks like they're so focused
on keeping the ball away from Simone that they're seeing
a smaller part of the court than necessary.
The middle needs to be exposed as well.
I like that change up.
Beautiful shot.
Some circus-like behavior there from Gee Gee Garvin.
I saw her play earlier on today, a shot through the legs
and come out with a winning volley.
Wonderfully athletic play.
- [Woman] Six one one.
- [Announcer] Six one one is the score.
- [Woman] Second serve.
- [Announcer] Unforced third ball error,
six one two, Simone's serving to Christine McGrath,
Christine Barksdale.
Tricky for me when there's more
than one Christine on the court.
I do apologize.
They're checking the ball,
unfortunately the ball couldn't handle the rigors
of the pace of play here.
And that's a great catch over there from Mr. Aaron Cull,
one handed, very impressive.
They've got a new one here.
It's not always easy to find a ball
that's similar to the previous one.
Let's see how they can adapt now to come back here.
- [Woman] One six one.
- [Announcer] One six one.
McGrath returning to Garvin.
Such authority on that high forehand volley.
Simone Jardim has come into the match
with a slight hip injury.
Believe it or not this isn't her full pace.
- [Woman] Six one one.
- [Announcer] Six one one is the score.
Christine McGrath serving to Gee Gee Garvin.
- [Woman] Point.
- [Announcer] Just the easy errors
that'll cost them at the moment.
Seven one one.
And there is a call of wide from the linesman.
And there's a time out called
from Christine McGrath, Barksdale.
At the moment, regardless of the strategy,
the execution of the basic third balls
as well as low volleys, McGrath and Jardim
are doing a wonderful job on the third balls,
keeping that ball low, mixing it up enough.
Eight one one is the score.
This is better play from the team...
And a good looking lob just sailed long.
And I love the mix up.
They were in that, they kept them back
for four or five shots.
They've got a little bit of wind with them now, so...
Barksdale and Garvin.
Oh, incredible hand speed by McGrath.
She's ready for that one.
One of the toughest parts of this game
is hitting an incredibly hard volley
and expecting it to come back.
Not easy.
- [Woman] Point, game and match.
- [Announcer] And there it is, folks.
Point, game and match.
Simone Jardin and Christine McGrath
take the women's pro doubles
in the inaugural PPF tournament
here at The Lakes Country Club.
(upbeat music)