Thursday, December 28, 2023

2023 PPA Atlanta Open: Connor Garnett Post-Match Interview

  


This is your first championship Sunday. Congratulations!

Connor Garnett: Thank you.I am still stoked, my legs—if you can see below the table, they're still bouncing up and down. I'm just so stoked to be in Sunday.

Did you do anything different to get here today?

Yeah, I've been really focusing on playing my game, keeping it within myself. A lot of that has been in those big matches. I think sometimes I try and do too much, so that was the big focus coming into this tournament—just enjoying it. During that match, I kept trying to tell myself, "This is a first-round match, just trying to get to the second round," to really put myself out of that element of this being a semi-final, going to my first Sunday.

What's your favorite venue?

I mean, the Newport venue has got to be one of the nicest. I'm also biased because I'm from there. This is an amazing venue here in Atlanta, and I just love going around—traveling to all the different cities. It's pretty cool. In Red Rock, I got to go, I think it's Zion there, and so I had a bad day one day, and I just went there. I mean, it's pretty cool. You get to travel around, sightsee, and play Pickleball.

You mentioned that you used to do too much playing with the top guys and had to adjust to playing normally. Can you elaborate on that?

Player: Yeah, I think in some of those first rounds, being able to handle different speeds of balls was challenging. One of the things I found difficult in some of my matches in past tournaments was a slower serve. So playing against someone like Tyson [McGuffin], you're just used to having to be on the backs of your feet to return that. Being able to handle those kinds of slower shots and stuff like that has been a big focus. Just getting reps of that was key.

Perfect, thank you.


PPA Atlanta Open Men's Doubles Singles Final 

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