Ben Johns vs Connor Garnett at the Carvana Mesa Arizona Cup

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Watch the Mens Singles Semi Finals match: (1) Benjamin Johns vs (4) Connor Garnett

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time in this is the carvana Mesa Arizona cup semi-final match up between Ben John’s and Connor Garnett serve underway and Ben overcooked that one Conor Garnett recovers the serve early zero zero side out and there’s Conor Garnett early trying to shape the ball do a nice passing shot with that twoh handed back hand of Ben John’s unsuccessful so a there he is right there the cat Mouse that’s what’s gotten him so many titles that backhand crosscourt flick going behind his opponent Conor Garnett leaning right and great shot from Ben Johns to start off this match [Applause] out Connor Grett play division one college tennis at Santa Clara achieving top 10 most wins in tennis at University beautiful inside out inside in roll rather for Ben Johns yeah one of those shots we’re going to be looking for you’re going to see it right here on the replay just able to extend great with the back hand foot oh no footfall called on the takeoff of Conor Garnett for The Earnie finish yeah Ben John’s able to stay back though and kind of defend off these these shots just trying to make Conor Garnett hit as many as possible see him let’s see how which which foot goes and a big serve from Ben Johns keeping those hips open obviously we have the uh the serve rule with the ball having to go below the hipbone and then not imparting any spin of that ball so Ben’s been opening his hips more in order to get more power on [Applause] that here’s the backand Wizardry of Garnett working both angles says that baseball background really has assisted with that backhand torque believe it or not a lot of wrist action he’s able to get both hands really just to turn and the timing of that is just so difficult but uh both players going to go ahead and start searching for that ball they could opt to get a new ball that’s one of the new rules but hey sometimes like to play with the game ball the new Tour ball the Vulcan V Pro flight another one of my favorite stories about Conor gett by the way gave up his investment banking career at the moment to pursue Pro pickle ball parents maybe thought he was a little crazy at first and now they get it to the Baseline goes Ben [Applause] Johns yeah this cat moue is not going Connor Garnett’s way so far been able to kind of get his patterns that he likes and sets it up for him nicely and then when you’re playing Ben if you’re the one having missed returns and Serv it’s going to be very difficult to get ahead side out and even though Ben John’s missed that shot he’s already you can already see his mindset now is oh I think I can win this cat Mouse thing let’s go ahead and get up there [Applause] out and again Michelle we talked about it at the beginning of the match Ben John’s able to cover the net so well get on that kitchen line and just extend with those long arms and making it very difficult for his opponent to pass and shows it there side out two-handed backhand of Conor Garnett able to extend as well so that’s his weapon gets him the side [Applause] out darnet is on the board and the Crowd Goes Wild for Point number one they’re happy for him and even the scorekeepers put five for Ben first before they gave him the point so such a nice guy Connor Garnett and pressure to the backhand side will get give him Point number [Music] two and missing slightly but going for the passing shot with a two-handed backand knowing he didn’t get that as clean as he wanted and there’s Ben Johns once again getting the cat and mouse game that he wants where he can dictate pace and dictate patterns out and able to fend that off as korar net able to get the side out see if he can add to his total here controlling the net with a nice B good stretch with the forehand [Music] two out missed it I think Conor gett might have given that to him oh yeah you’re right 5 thought it might have been wide oh there’s a successful Ernie from Conor Garnett reading that beautifully Ben’s been trying to come in on the Kat Mouse trying to drop the ball down the line reads it well that time jumps the kitchen for a nice Ernie whips it down the line on that lethal backand Conor gett is within two he’s been trying to hit that spot for the last three or four shots so able to connect on that one great shot by him and then he whips it to the crosscourt and pulls within [Applause] one definitely in Rhythm now now he’s going for his ground stroke shaping the ball that’s an angle that’s just never going to come back Ben John’s perseveres takes back the serve 5 [Applause] four out that one going to be just a bit long but Connor Garnett starting to find his rhythm find his flow here in this opening game came out a little slow but grooving in right now and that’s going to be helping his cause there to tie this first game up with a Mis return from Ben Johnson we talked about the consistency of serving returns with Ben and another winner from Conor carnett down the line all smiles from him to take the lead 6 five oh my Conor Garnett deceives Ben Johns who very rarely gets caught in that position yeah he’s able to disguise the two-handed backhand closes The Stance Ben thinks he’s going line crosscourt nice shot and again right down the line Conor Garnett on fire right now five there’s the circus shot after point after Point there’s going to be a timeout from Ben Johns he needs to have Conor Garnett just cool down don’t look now but could the world number one be in trouble here in the semi finals Conor Garnett Catching Fire up four and two points away from taking the first Garnett in the closing stretch here in game number one of the semifinal against the world number one McMahon and Johnny pickle ball here on the call and how about a game point for Conor Garnett on the air of v i feel like it was just a second ago the crowd was cheering for him to get his first points and all of a sudden he has the game point side out just wide couldn’t close it we’ll see what Ben can do with the service opportunity we’ve seen him come back from these kind of deficits oh just misconnected on the back hand side smart play from Ben yeah absolutely trying to come in get into that cat and mouse game once again and able to curl that ball just beyond Conor Garnett’s grasp point oh boy Ben’s pressure just applying up at the net being long being big and great approach shot to set it up in the first place cat Mouse one once again by Ben Johns back within two now the pressure shifting over to Garnett 10 crosscourt winner the world number one back within one and a time out will be called by Conor Garnett Ben John’s Rises to the occasion to tie it five straight points and Conor Garnett not really winning a lot of those cat and mouse games elects to drop and come in and a drop Will will give the game point Advantage now back on the side of Ben Johns 11 10 oh Garnett just barely misses and Ben Johns rattles off seven straight points to take game one the official ball of the PPA [Music] [Music] tour is about to go down not so fast Conor Garnett now will have to completely reset in game number two for the work he put in in game one out and Conor Garnett staring down that line wondering if pen got it but he’s going to give it to him and kind of regroup here refocus so game of runs in game one we’ll see what they can do in game two there’s a powerful backand with purpose from Conor Garnett trying to get his game going that’s right he might be all smiles most of the time but there was a big come on after that as he tries to get himself going here in game two Z and Conor Garnett doing what he did in game two that got him that little run early on or midpoint through there with the drives down the line crosscourt and there it is again down the line then crosscourt but he changes Pace on it he likes to actually curl that ball with his two-handed back hand takes a little bit more Pace on it and working out for him side out oh except for that time about this win percentage for Ben Johns in his career in the PPA 70% win percentage Yeah that’s pretty incredible 179 20 it’s a lot of singles matches side out two Conor Garett not too shabby either 70% percentage in his young pick a ball career 101 wins yeah also getting a lot of reps in there with a lot of matches but uh that would explain why with that 70% as well being up at number four in the world currently passing shot right down the line Conor Garnett regrouping with his great footwork down the line and just continues to get his points based on these ground strokes and disguising them so well on the backhand side out sometimes Michelle when you play against the best you try to do a little too much from time to time so Conor Garnett trying to hit that perfect roll on Ben John’s currently crowd like that one a fist pump for garette absolutely great play from Conor Garnett great speed great footwork and the ability to adjust two out and the crowd definitely rooting for Conor Garnett to try to get up on the kitchen l0 [Applause] out two [Applause] out [Music] Z2 and Ben John’s trying to get into the captain Mouse once again another side out for Conor Garnett getting what he wants there just unable to execute on the first ball oh what a shot from Ben Garnett almost got it he did great foot speed from Connor Garnett trying to get to the ball leaves the high ball there for Ben Johns to do a nice angle volley and knowing that he put that ball a little high knew he was going to be chasing something down and again Ben with the angled volleys to get Conor on the Move thought he might have a good clean look at the ATP around the post actually hit the post one two that’s pretty from Conor Garnett Ben John’s electing to stay back put on a little bit of a clinic of third shot drops and just one too many Connor Garnett finally able to jump the kitchen and put one away great defense from Ben Johns to make him hit extra balls but Conor just too big on the last one oh just missed it Point side out thank you and Connor trying to mix it up a little bit he knows the cat and mouse has to be included in order to mix it up on Ben John’s you cannot just rely on those passing shots it’s going to be very difficult to take him down that way two two an unbelievable play from Ben Johns and Conor Garnett the crowd on their feet the point of the match back and forth they go cat Mouse defense little bit of everything with an ATP from Ben John’s to finish it off 32 and Conor Garnett just trying something [Applause] new and getting the ball back here at 42 Ben John’s after that great Point little emotion nice fist pump and again Conor Garnett smiling on his way back to the Baseline knowing he come came away with that one Ben John’s getting what he wants in the cat and mouse game unable to convert on the final ball two four out and not going to get much love there on the net as Conor Garnett four [Music] two and back to the cat M Conor Garnett trying to curl that ball around the post unable to do so so Ben John’s extending his lead here 52 to 52 [Applause] out and with that side out the crowd encouraging Conor Garnett here in game two out another Miss for Garnett [Applause] 5 Wicked angle from Garnett gets a serve right back absolutely great two-handed backand able to curl that one probably the first cat Mouse Point that he’s been able to really control this match so has to be a good confidence boost for Conor [Music] that what a point Ben John’s cleaning up not giving Garnett any room to breathe here in game two absolutely even though Connor gets that nice drop shot with a two-handed backhand Ben electing to bring him in and take care of business on the cat and mouse Point once again oh man just caught off the Le cord and Conor trying to mix in some more of the cat and mouse points for himself with the ground strokes but going to be very difficult to take on Ben johns with just passing shots and getting the looks he wants just unable to convert that final ball [Applause] 72 receiver rifled that one into the corner and a timeout to stop the bleeding wow Conor Garnett was forced to hit not one but two or maybe three winners on the defensive Ben Johns I’ll tell you what Conor Garnett just came flying in getting some good hang time at on one of those shots and right now being down 28 he’s really going to have to just go for it at this point Ben John’s with the serve here though and again even Conor Garnett coming in on that ball Ben wanting him to slow it down and even though he has to do a dead dink even taking a step back and whipping that two-handed backham might even be in his best interest right now oh oh my corner to corner every inch of the Court hit in that rally that’s right and Conor Garnett just kind of throwing his hands up like what what do I do match point now for the king himself Ben Johns I mean yeah that’s exactly how it feels at this point in the match not yet saves one match point does Conor [Applause] Garnett just wide crowd still beckoning the performance of Conor Garnett well last time they cheered like this he rattled off nine so let’s see if he can do it again he’s feeling the energy you can see the smile on his face oh just can’t get there Ben John stealing the hopes and dreams of everyone in the crowd right now who wants Garett to pull out a second game win Match Point number two for Ben Johns out okay another chance to mount to comeback here for Garnett yeah you got to love the fight of Conor Garnett you know part of the reason why he’s probably number four of the world is that fight that he has and just giving everything he has right now out and once again Ben John’s bringing Conor Garnett into that Caton Mouse game match point and so Ben John’s having another opportunity at Match Point here wow not yet says Conor Garnett hops the corner smacks the Ernie rolls it into the Baseline and third Match Point survived by Garnett 31 another point for [Applause] Garnett looking for some momentum Ben Johan’s letting that one go another opportunity here to close out the match Conor just throwing the kitchen sink at him at this point just trying to hit something trying to get something going a little finesse touch to bring back the serve that is exactly what you talked about at the start of the match drop it in finish it deep that’s right Conor Garnett finally instead of pushing the ball back to Ben JNS drops it with a nice touch volley brings him in and then has the entire court to work with keeps him alive once again in this match firefight at the kitchen then Johns claims the serve right back Match Point number four TR Conor gned smiling on his way back to get the ball opportunities there some great anticipation from Garnett didn’t matter Ben John’s closes it out took four tries to do it and the world number one is back in the final where he feels he belongs you were down 11 to5 then you rattled off seven straight points to pull out a game one win how did you do that yeah well I think Michelle if I was down 115 I would have lost lost but 105 I accept uh yeah you know I I think uh he was passing so well that when I got the ball at 510 I was just like I got to play aggressive and get a get a run here because if you give him the ball back uh and when he was hitting so freely and putting as much spin on the ball as he was uh I really wasn’t able to cover all his passing shots so uh I think it was important for me to serve big play some aggressive shots get some free points then the pressure comes on and uh everyone plays a little tighter um so it was really just important to get a couple points from 510 at least keep it tight and that’s what gave me the opportunity to actually get the uh the M the game point yeah Ben you could see your game plan a little bit all the time you were going into that cat and mouse game did you notice that was working for you and then you started to stick to it a little bit or did you decide to change some things up what was going through your mind through all that yeah for sure I’d say with a lot of the the newer um singles players and pickle ball um most of them are very used to hitting a lot of passing shots and covering passing shots uh Mouse is a little more old school I think when we had less spin on the paddles we had to drop and come in a lot uh so I guess it’s something that uh newer players don’t learn as quickly um so I feel like against a player like Connor who passes so well and is used to playing a more tennis Centric game uh it’s it’s helpful for me to get into those because I think I have uh more time doing that oh Ben shocky to say this but it’s your first Final in singles in 2024 how good does it feel to be back in the final despite all the pressure you face every weekend to Triple Crown every weekend uh yeah you know how I think of it is if I have pressure to get a Triple Crown that’s that’s a a wonderful place to be in you know uh if if you even have the opportunity to get one then I think that’s incredible um so I feel privileged to to be in that position and um yeah it definitely feels good to be back in singles I think it took some time to figure out the serve and the ball um but you know I I very much enjoy singles still and I’m happy to be back in the final all right we’re happy to see you back in the final as well we will get your opponent covered next with the