In their previous encounter at the Atlanta Open in May, Ben and Collin Johns faced off against Federico Staksrud and Matt Wright, suffering a defeat with a score of 3-11, 5-11 in the semifinals. After a five-month wait for a rematch, the Johns brothers seized their chance in Las Vegas.
As the top seeds, they delivered a dominant performance, securing an 11-4, 11-0 victory over the No. 3 seeds.
For Ben Johns, everything clicked on the court. “The ball and conditions felt really good,” he said. “The drives were low and hard, and my follow-up drops felt crisp. It was hot earlier, but now it’s in that perfect intermediate zone.”
Despite the one-sided score, the match concluded in an unusual fashion. After returning to serve at 0-10 in the second game, Staksrud received a technical warning for unsportsmanlike conduct due to profanity. Just one point later, he received a second warning for the same offense.
According to the rules, two technical warnings result in a loss of a point, but since Staksrud and Wright were at 0, the Johns brothers were awarded a point instead. This unexpected turn effectively ended the match, leading to a tense exchange between Wright and Head PPA Referee Don Stanley.
The Johns brothers are no strangers to point deductions from technical warnings; they experienced it themselves in last week’s final in Virginia Beach for failing to clearly signal timeouts.
Despite the penalty that sealed the match on Saturday, Collin Johns believes it didn’t impact the final result. “I’m not sure if it was the right call, but we won because of it, and I feel like we would have finished the match regardless,” he stated.
On Sunday, the top seeds will face the winner of the second semifinal between No. 2 seeds JW Johnson and Dylan Frazier, and No. 8 seeds Andrei Daescu and James Ignatowich.
Johnson and Frazier Advance to Finals, Set for Rematch Against Johns Brothers
JW Johnson and Dylan Frazier advanced to the finals by defeating No. 8 seeds Andrei Daescu and James Ignatowich in the second men’s doubles semifinal, with a score of 11-6, 11-4.
While Daescu and Ignatowich showcased impressive length and hand speed, the No. 2 seeds strategically targeted their attacks, overpowering their opponents in both games.
Despite their strong semifinal performance, Johnson and Frazier had a close call earlier in the day during the Round of 16, where they narrowly triumphed over No. 16 seeds Quang Duong and CJ Klinger, winning 7-11, 11-3, 11-9 after trailing late in the third game.
Now, Johnson and Frazier are set to face Ben and Collin Johns in a highly anticipated rematch of last year’s five-game thriller at the Darling Tennis Center.
Frazier is looking forward to having a shot at revenge.
“We’re gonna be looking for a little redemption,” he said. “We had an epic match here last year in the final, but it’s been a minute since we’ve played them, so it’s gonna be fun. We’re gonna talk about our strategy tonight and be ready to go.”
