Newman and Ignatowich Pairing Make ‘Connection,’ Earn Bronze

If this was “Love Connection,” James Ignatowich wouldn’t be expecting a chance at another date.

OK, that 1980s game show reference is a bit outdated. If Friday in Utah was “The Bachelor,” Ignatowich probably wouldn’t be getting a rose.

“I have a feeling that Riley may block my number,” Ignatowich admitted. “I’ll pay him, I will beg him, I’ll even let him have all the prize money if we win. He can have my appearance fee if he’ll give me another chance to get better at pickleball.”

We all know James is prone to exaggeration and enjoys making fun of both others and himself. He may have been being a bit hard on himself on this occasion.

Sometimes those “first dates” don’t go like we envision, but they might not be the total nightmare we imagine either. And of course, Ignatowich doesn’t have to beg for a chance to play with anyone. He’s one of the top players on tour.

And sure, in the case of Riley Newman and Ignatowich, it might not be a long-term marriage we’re talking about, but third place at the Selkirk Red Rock Open isn’t a disaster.

“James is a guy on the upside,” Newman said. “I wanted to play with him, so I asked him, and he moved things around and was able to do it. It wasn’t the result we wanted, but it was a first-time partnership and going deep into a tourney is not too bad.”

See, James, maybe the day wasn’t a total wash.

Newman usually plays with Matt Wright, but said Wright couldn’t make this tournament so that meant Newman was on the lookout for a new partner. The pairing of him with Ignatowich is a bit curious, considering both are “Alpha” players, both like to dominate the court, and both often take a majority of third shots, middle shots, and all the “big” shots.

“That was the difficulty of it,” Ignatowich said. “Usually I’m the one taking the middle and taking the initiative and being as aggressive as I can. In this case I was playing the ‘Beta’ role and playing the set up role and it didn’t work out. Riley played great. I just played poorly.”

The two came into the tournament as the No. 2 seeded team and didn’t lose a game until falling to the sixth-seeded team of Tyson McGuffin and Brendon Long, 11-9, 13-11 in the semifinals. The two came back and won in the third-place game, topping AJ Koller and Travis Rettenmaier in the bronze, 11-7, 11-1.

So, will there be a second date?

“Potentially. There are so many young and up-and-coming players,” Newman said. “It excited me to play with someone new, and if Matt can’t go, who knows? We both have our moments where we can get loud and fiery and chippy. James is more vocal in the interviews, that’s for sure, but I liked playing with him because he gave me a lot of energy. He was loud and I liked it.”

Meanwhile, it’s a first championship appearance for Long, paired for the first time with McGuffin. Long’s on the upside as well. He has played impressively at Major League Pickleball over the first two events and, according to the GOAT Ben Johns himself, was one of the first players to beat Johns at singles when Johns was first starting out. He and McGuffin will take on the top-seeded team of Collin Johns and Dekel Bar. Collin Johns usually plays alongside his brother Ben, but Ben, like Wright, didn’t make the trip to Utah.

On the women’s side, the top three teams are out and the sixth-seeded team of Megan Sheehan-Dizon and Etta Wright are in. Wright and Dizon topped the third-seeded team of Irina Tereschenko and Jessie Irvine in the quarterfinals and then the second-seeded team of Anna Bright and Vivienne David in the semifinals. 

On the other side of the bracket, it’s the fourth-seeded team of Allyce Jones and Lea Jansen in the finals. They topped the top team of Lucy Kovalova and Callie Smith in the semis.

Kovalova and Smith went on to win the bronze with a three-game victory against Bright and David.