Professionals and amateurs alike discovered their option to Punta Gorda’s Pickleplex for 3 days of serves, lobs and drop pictures through the Punta Gorda Open.
“There are most likely like two or three massive title gamers that aren’t taking part in on this event however aside from that everybody else is right here,” Altaf Service provider mentioned.
Service provider, who traveled from Owensboro, Kentucky to play this weekend hardly traveled the farthest to Punta Gorda, as pickleball gamers from everywhere in the nation made their option to Charlotte County.
“It’s form of the beginning of the season and it’s going to be a enjoyable one,” Service provider mentioned.
With Punta Gorda additionally residence to the World Pickleball Championship and Naples residence to the US Open of Pickleball, the Punta Gorda Open is hardly probably the most prestigious pickleball event held in Southwest Florida.
Nonetheless, it’s the first occasion to welcome professionals again to Southwest Florida for the reason that pandemic started.
“I went to California, Texas, Georgia and Las Vegas (to compete),” mentioned Estero professional Christee Chargott. “So it’s truly very nice to have a event on the town.”
And a few of the world’s top-ranked gamers weren’t going to overlook their likelihood to return to the Sunshine State.
“Tournaments like these are nowhere to cover,” Service provider mentioned. “Each match is a battle. Each match is enjoyable. You understand how everybody performs.”
Nonetheless, this 12 months’s Punta Gorda Open is closed to followers as a result of pandemic, although that didn’t cease a whole lot from registering to compete.
“I’m simply dying to get out, be within the sunshine and be outdoors transferring. It’s arduous being locked up,” mentioned Jennifer Tavernier from Minneapolis.
The Punta Gorda Open runs via Sunday and each participant is combating for a bit of the event’s $40 thousand purse.
