Twin Magic: Yates Johnson beats brother Hunter in men's pro singles at APP Sacramento Open

For the second consecutive year, Johnson Ranch Sports Club in Roseville played host to the Association of Pickleball Professionals (APP) Sunmed Sacramento Open where more than 700 professional and amateur players competed in a number of divisions. "The energy this year is off the hook and I think a big part of it is the number one age demographic is 25 to 34 year olds," said Samantha Martinez, the pickleball director at Johnson Ranch Sports Club. "Yesterday, we had this group of guys who were cheering for each other and when they won, they were hugging and throwing their friends up in the air. The energy is incredible." The five-day event concluded on Sunday with gold medal matches for men's pro singles, mixed pro doubles, men's pro doubles and women's pro doubles. Megan Fudge withdrew from the day's opening women's pro singles match due to illness, with opponent Judit Castillo therefore winning her first-ever gold. The first match of the day on the championship court was between twin brothers Hunter and Yates Johnson from New Mexico who competed with each other in pro doubles earlier in the week. Yates Johnson won the first game 11-7 before Hunter fought back to win game two 11-8. In a back-and-forth third game, Yates won 11-7 to claim his first career gold medal and his sixth medal of the 2023 season. "It feels awesome to win. Hunter is my toughest competitor," Yates Johnson said. "We've played a bunch of finals now. We've been playing against each other our whole lives in tennis and now it's fun to be able to compete against each other in pickleball. He has gotten a couple of golds over me, so it feels good to get one from him this week. Hopefully, I can ride this momentum and get a couple of more throughout the year." Despite feeling ill in the morning, Fudge recovered and competed in the women's pro doubles final with Bobbi Oshiro. The duo started strong with an 11-6 win in game one against the top-seeded Simone Jardim and Parris Todd. From there, Jardim and Todd stormed back to take game two 11-4 and game three 11-2 to secure their fourth-straight gold medal and continue their remarkable run. Genie Erokhina and Rianna Valdes claimed bronze medals on Saturday. After a thrilling win at the APP Mesa Open, Andrei Daescu and Pesa Teoni set to defend their men's pro doubles title against Ryler DeHeart and Rob Nunnery. A tight game one went to DeHeart and Nunnery, 11-9, before Daescu and Teoni responded with an 11-4 win in game two. DeHeart and Nunnery jumped out to a 7-0 lead in game three before eventually winning 11-9 to force a tiebreaker. Daescu and Teoni took control from there, winning the tiebreaker 15-7 to claim their second-straight gold medals. DeHeart claimed his second medal of the 2023 season and Nunnery earned his first medal of the year. Stefan Auvergne and Brendon Long took home the bronze medals on Saturday. While Hunter Johnson didn't win gold in the men's singles, he still had one more match to play in the mixed pro doubles with Todd against Daescu and Susannah Barr. Barr and Daescu won a close game one, 11-8, before a dominant 11-1 win in game two earned the duo their second-straight gold medals. Shelby Bates and Ryler DeHeart earned bronze medals after their Friday performances. In APP Tour senior pro action, Stefan Andren and Mircea Morariu took home senior men's doubles gold, Beth Bellamy and Nathalie Bagby earned another women's doubles title, Bellamy and Morariu teamed up for senior mixed gold, and Vincent Van Patten won senior men's singles gold. Pickleball is the fastest growing sport in the United States, according to the Sports and Fitness Industry Association, and has grown an average of more than 158 percent over the last three years. The event was streamed on the APPTV YouTube Channel and highlight packages will appear on CBS Sports Network and ESPN2 following recent broadcast deals. "It's just skyrocketing right now," Yates Johnson said. "It's amazing to see these tournaments grow and see more people coming out. It's just really taking off and I think the sky's the limit."