The Association of Pickleball Players (APP) brought the heat to sunny Southern California, as nearly 1,800 players competed for glory at the OWL APP Newport Beach Open. Held at the venerable Tennis and Pickleball Club at Newport Beach in front of packed crowds all week, the tournament brought five days of thrilling matches and opportunities to secure a prestigious Golden Ticket to the 2024 USA Pickleball National Championships.

The world’s first and world’s best pickleball tour showcased the sport’s elite professionals battling for gold in front of a capacity crowd and national television audience on ESPN2, with seven champions earning hardware and their share of a $150,000 prize pool. Megan Fudge took home two gold medals and a silver, Emily Cederquist, Erik Lange and Max Manthou all earned their first APP Tour golds of the season, Chris Haworth won his fourth men’s singles title, and Jack Munro and Yana Newell secured their second golds of 2024.

‍Men’s Pro Doubles
The championship action commenced with men’s pro doubles under the lights Saturday evening, pitting Erik Lange and Max Manthou against Will Howells and Patrick Kawka. Lange and Manthou started strong, taking game one 11-6. Howells and Kawka responded in game two, jumping out to a 7-0 lead. After a timeout, the momentum shifted 180 degrees, as Lange and Manthou stormed back to win 11-9 and secure their first APP Tour gold medals of 2024.

“We’ve been training for six months together, twice a week,” Lange said. “Max has a positive energy, he’s a crowd favorite, and it’s just an honor to share the court with him. Thank you to the APP and OWL Sport for supporting this event and allowing us to live out our athletic dreams.”

“We knew we could do this, and after we won the first game I felt like we would,” Manthou said.  
“It was our confidence that got us the win.”

Andre Mick and Jack Munro won the men’s doubles bronze.

Women’s Pro Doubles
A raucous crowd then set the stage for an epic women’s pro doubles final featuring Newport Beach’s own Jill Braverman and Megan Fudge against Emily Cederquist and Yana Newell. Game one witnessed the top-notch energy of Cederquist and Newell guiding them to an 11-5 win. They carried that momentum wholeheartedly over to game two, winning 11-2 for Cederquist’s first APP Tour gold of 2024, and Newell’s second straight in women’s doubles.

“We stuck with the gameplan,” an ecstatic Cederquist said. “Because we’ve both played with them and against them, we knew they both love their backhand. We attacked the middle and it worked the whole match. If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.”

“Big thank you to the crowd – we’ve been savoring that energy all day long,” added Newell. “We came out fired up and came out loud, and honestly it was the easiest match of the day because of the energy. Emily makes it really easy to play next to her, so it was a blast.”

Susannah Barr and Mari Humberg secured women’s doubles bronze.

Men’s Pro Singles
After a good night’s sleep, the action resumed on Championship Sunday with men’s pro singles. Defending champion Chris Haworth faced off against first-time finalist John Cangelosi. Haworth showed why he’s one of the top men’s singles players in the game, continuing his hot stretch by winning 15-7 and 15-10 to earn his fourth APP Tour men’s singles gold of 2024.

“The more matches I play, the more confident I get and the better I feel,” Haworth said. “The longer the year goes on, the better I’ll play. I was really proud of myself for staying composed and not letting my emotions get too high or too low, and sticking through the whole match.”

Max Manthou took home men’s singles bronze in Newport Beach.

Mixed Pro Doubles
Mixed pro doubles followed suit on championship court, with Megan Fudge and Jack Munro taking on Bobbi Oshiro and Will Howells. Fudge’s veteran leadership and Munro’s craftiness made their marks in this one, as the duo won 11-5 and 11-6 to take home the title. The win marked the second APP Tour event in a row that both Fudge and Munro earned gold.

“Jack makes me feel so comfortable out there, and I know he’s got all the game,” Fudge said. “I knew I had to get my resets, hold my own and let it fly. This is the beginning of our partnership, so we’re going to keep building on it and having fun out there. I want to shout out the whole crowd – you guys are amazing and brought the energy. We were feeling it out here.”

Asked what contributed to the win, Munro replied, “It’s just trust. I trust Megan, and I knew that if we went back to the baseline and start hitting the smartest shots, then eventually we were going to come through on top.”

Jill Braverman and Eric Oncins earned mixed doubles bronze.

Women’s Pro Singles

The championship concluded with one of the APP Tour’s most exhilarating pickleball matches of the year, as Megan Fudge and Kate Fahey faced off for women’s singles gold. Game one was one for the ages, a back-and-forth battle with Fudge prevailing, 22-20. Fahey, a former University of Michigan tennis standout, responded with her own nailbiting win 15-12 in game two. The deciding third game could have gone either way as each player faced multiple match points, but in the end Fudge prevailed 19-17 to claim her second gold of the tournament.

When asked what it took to win, Fudge replied, “My legs, my heart, my guts, my everything.”

“Credit to Kate, she played phenomenal and had a great tournament,” Fudge continued. “She beat a lot of good players on Thursday, and I knew she was going to be tough. She’s a good fighter. All the credit to her.”

Emily Cederquist took home the women’s singles bronze.

‍AARP Champions and Masters Pro Action

In AARP Champions Division (50+) competition in Newport Beach, Lee Whitwell added two more gold medals to her impressive 2024 campaign – one alongside Jaime Oncins in mixed doubles and the other with Lisa Alipaz in women’s doubles. Marcello Jardim won men’s singles gold, Karin Ptaszek-Kochis took home the women’s singles title, and David George and Daryl Wyatt teamed up for men’s doubles gold.

In AARP Masters Division (60+) action, Kris Anderson and Scott Moore each won two gold medals, Kristin Hickman earned gold in women’s doubles alongside Anderson, and Todd Murphy paired with Moore for men’s doubles gold.

‍Additional Details
All pro winners are shown below, with full tournament results available here. The APP returns to action in its hometown of Chicago on August 28 to September 1 for the 2024 APP Chicago Open, held at Danny Cunniff Park in suburban Highland Park.  

More information about upcoming APP events—including APP Tour dates, player registration and ticket information—is available on theapp.global. Pickleball enthusiasts can also stay in the know by following the APP on Instagram, X, Facebook, TikTok, Threads and LinkedIn.