May 25th, 2025, 6:36 p.m.
Some exploring today, taking in New York City! Got some pizza, went and saw the Friends building, The High Line, Times Square, and got a chicken over rice bowl.
May 24th, 2025, 5:24 p.m.
Just finished my gold medal match against Alex Crum - it was a great match. Alex played really well. I won the first set, and I was up in the second, and he started getting back in there and playing some great pickleball. I tried to stay in the moment because it was a lot like my first finals a couple of weeks ago against Grayson, where I won the first and I was leading, and then he got momentum, and then took over, and he eventually won. So it was mentally a little tough, but that's when you've just got to stay in the moment and pull through. He played some great pickleball today, and it was a great battle against him. Super happy to have won today.
So finally, since I'm done with this event, I'm super excited to be in New York, and witness and see how New York actually is. I've never been in New York before, so tomorrow is when we're gonna go into Times Square in Manhattan. I have Sam, Kelsey and Shelby who are all from New York or have lived in New York for a lot of time, so they're gonna tour me around, and we're gonna have some good times. Probably gonna get a lot of pizza, some hot dogs, cookies, bagels. I mean, I think I can let loose a little tomorrow after a gold and a bronze. Super excited, so I will keep you all updated as to what I'm eating tomorrow. It's gonna be a lot of food!
May 23rd, 2025, 2:36 p.m.
Just got done with the bronze medal match in the men's doubles, and we pulled through. It was so much fun playing with Ronan, so happy we could get the bronze. A little disappointed about the semifinals, but Len and Thomas played a great match, and there's always a next time. Thanks, Ronan, for playing with me.
This is my second APP, and I'd like to thank Ken and the entire team for how well they've hosted me. I would say the major difference that besides the quality of players between when I play back home in India and when I'm playing over here, is that here, we try and finish the bracket within four hours. I would say the winners bracket is done in four hours. But like at home, it's a little longer because there's so many events and so many matches that are going on. So we keep have to keep shuffling between pro events and amateur events. So that's where it gets a little bit difficult for us. But there's some great tournaments that are held back home as well. The thing about the APP that I'm liking is that we have a Championship Sunday. Here we have a Saturday, but we have a Championship Sunday, and the Championship Court feels nice. Generally, in some events in India, we do not go to a Sunday. We finish on the same day. But I kind of prefer this over that, because it just gives your body more time to relax, and it makes makes the whole event feel a little more special. So that's something I'm happy about, that I'm playing, and this is my second Championship Saturday this time. Two for two. Let's see how we go!
May 23rd, 2025, 10:39 a.m.
Yesterday we had a rough day in the mixed doubles. We went one and two. We had a battle against Rob Slutsky and Kelsey. Good match. We ended up losing seven in the third - tough. We played the ninth place draw, grinded again, lost a tough match against PK and Daria. It's always fun competing with Shelby. Hope the next time is
better, we're going to work harder and come back stronger.
Finished the day, went for a quick meal to a Mexican spot down around the corner. I got a nice Mexican bowl, quite delicious, and got some Jarritos. It's unbelievably good, that's one of my favorite drinks. Whenever I go to a Mexican spot, that's what I'm gonna have - or in Mexico! I like the guava flavor, so that's the one I always get.
Woke up today at five feeling fresh and good. Came into the men's doubles playing with Ronan, who I actually practiced for the first time with today in the morning, and it's been a great pairing. We're playing really well together. He's a really good dude, been constantly pumping me, motivating me through. We had a good match against BLane and Drake this morning, and then we went on to beat Erik Lange and Purple Jesus. That's always a tough one. We won 12-10 in the third and it was a grind. And now through to the semis, we're excited to play the semifinal soon and see what the rest of the day holds for us.
Getting partners is always tricky; I've come in a little late because I missed the first four and the next one I played was with Harsh, who I generally play with. Harsh, unfortunately, did not stay back for this one. So I had to start looking out. That's when I met Ronan. I knew Ronan from last year because I think we played last year at the US Open, but we met this year again at the Indian Open, and that's where we decided to play this one. Getting partners is it's tricky, but also at the same time, I have good relations with a lot of people over here because I met them at so many tournaments. So it's slightly easier, but always, you don't know how it's going to end up, because you've not played with them before and it's always the first time pairing. So I'm playing with Ronan this week and I'm playing with Spencer in Newport, so it's gonna be fun. It's gonna be fun, some first time pairings.
May 22nd, 2025, 3:11 p.m.
So I came in for my first APP tournament last week in Cincinnati. I'd like to thank the APP, they were very hospitable, and they hosted me really well. I would thank them for the wild card opportunity that they gave me in the singles and the mixed doubles event, we had to qualify in the men's doubles, but that's okay, it's a part of the game. I'm very happy about getting a wild card this week in the men's doubles and the men's singles, they hosted me very well. Michelle has been really nice, Ken keeps coming around and asking me a lot of questions about how everything's going. So I'm very happy about the way they've treated me out here, and it's been lovely.
I think it was last year when I met Ken for the first time at the English Open, and we've been talking about me coming over. Finally, this year, we were able to get around to it. I've known a majority of the players from a lot of international stuff, and I played the U.S. Open last year, so majority of them from there. I've built my relationships and I've got some good friendships with a lot of people over here, which I'm happy and thankful about. I'm excited to do a lot more APP this year, and let's see how it goes.
May 22nd, 2025, 11:32 a.m.
So yesterday, we got back home, we had a lot of traffic. Took us longer than we expected, with like an hour-and-a-half to reach home. We got in, stretched a bit, slept, rested, woke up for dinner. We got chicken parm and some pasta. It was very nice, grilled chicken, and it was quite delicious, to be fair. Then I just slept. Woke up at three. Then, because I'm still jet-lagged from the Vietnam trip, didn't get enough sleep after. We had a good first round match. Unfortunately we couldn't close it out we lost to Rob Slutsky and Kelsey, tough match, but looking forward to the ninth place draw.
May 21st, 2025, 2:43 p.m.
We just got through the mixed doubles qualifying. It was a grind. We had a battle. Shelby played really well, and I think I played well as well. Final round was against, Xiao Yi and Len - it's always tough playing Len and Xiao Yi. It was a good match and I'm happy we got through it. I'm excited for the main draw tomorrow. I'm not sure what I'm gonna get to eat tonight, probably a chicken parm somewhere. Just excited for a nice meal and to get some good night's sleep.
May 21st, 2025, 11:24 a.m.
I just got done with the semifinals of the men singles. It was a battle against Ronan, who I'm playing doubles with this week. He's a great dude, and we had a great match. It was a tight match, 13 and 13, if I'm not wrong. It was a lot of fun. I'm playing well. I hope to play the finals at Flushing, that was the whole reason why I decided to do this tournament. Excited for mixed doubles, we have qualies soon. I'm going to run it with Shelby, and it's going to be a lot of fun.
May 21st, 2025, 9:42 a.m.
So I just finished my round of 16 and quarterfinals. I played Casey in the round of 16, it was a good match. Casey's been playing well, and it was fun to play him. I feel I'm playing pretty solid. Selling while hitting a good forehand, and was happy that I was able to get through that. Next round was against BLane. BLane is always a fun matchup to play with. We're good friends so it was a pretty good, close match, I won 12 and 14. Happy with how it's going, excited and ready for the semifinals.
May 21st, 2025, 8:15 a.m.
So this is the first time I've been here in New York and super excited to be here! I never actually thought that pickleball would bring me to so many different places and meet so many new people, so I'm happy. It's a good thing that happened to me.
I got in late Monday night, we had a really long customs line, which no one's ever happy about. Got in, and the first thing I had to get was the pizza slice. So that was the first thing that I had when I got in. I had Shelby who came and picked me up, so she actually brought me some so that was really nice of her. I liked it - won't complain, but we're going to try different places, and we're going to see which one rates the highest. I've got a lot of suggestions and recommendations from a lot of friends back home, and plus, I had my brother who played college tennis. He was in New York a lot for tournaments. He's actually played an event here at Queens College. So he's given me a few suggestions and recommendations, and so have other friends. The next day, I woke up and the first thing we got was bagels in the morning. Got an everything bagel with cream cheese and avocado. It was massive - it was massive! I couldn't finish it. Had to force myself to get done with it. It was delicious, though.
For dinner, I went easy, considering I had a match the next morning. We went to Chipotle. and got something healthy - rice and chicken.
I'm here now, waiting for my match. Excited to see how today goes!
