Vietnam’s Phuc Huynh was the lone Asian competitor at the Australian Open Pickleball Slam, which returned for a second consecutive year as a co-feature alongside the recently concluded Australian Open, tennis’s first Grand Slam of the season. The event featured 28 players battling for pride and a total prize pool of AUS $100,000 (approximately USD $70,000).
In addition to representing Asia, Phuc Huynh walked away with a share of the prize money after helping Team Hardware clinch the title. The winning lineup included Harrison Brown, Andie Dikosavljevic, and Nicola Schoeman. Team Hardware outperformed six other teams in a format that consisted of a single round-robin group stage played with rally scoring. The remaining teams competing in the Australian Open Pickleball Slam included:
- Team Degraves: Zack Taylor (USA), Jason Taylor, Selina Turulja, Sahra Dennehy
- Team Flinders: Casey Diamond (USA), Michaela Haet, Danni-Elle Townsend, George Wall
- Team Hosier: Ryler DeHeart (USA), Emilia Schmidt, Sofia Sewing (USA), Kyle Stoker, Zach Grabovic
- Team Duckboard: Megan Fudge (USA), Sarah Burr, Joseph Wild, Jai Grewal (New Zealand)
- Team Guilford: Christina Chin (Canada), Mitch Hargreaves, Roos van Reek (Netherlands, but plays full-time in Australia), Andre Mick
All players, unless stated otherwise, are from Australia, with van Reek, Hargreaves, Dennehy, Townsend, and DeHeart also competing regularly on the PPA Tour Asia.
Phuc Huynh and Team Hardware Come Out on Top in Thrilling Finish
Team Hardware and Team Hosier finished as the top two teams following the round-robin stage. Team Hardware recorded convincing victories over Team Duckboard and Team Guilford, while Team Hosier pushed Team Hardware to the limit in two closely contested encounters.
The two teams met for a third and final time in the championship match, which ended level after Sewing and Grabovic defeated Dikosavljevic and Brown, 20–13, in Game 8. Earlier in the finals, Vietnam’s Huynh delivered a crucial performance by evening the score with a hard-fought 22–18 win over APP Tour veteran Ryler DeHeart in Game 2. Huynh later partnered Brown in Game 6 to edge DeHeart and Grabovic, 33–30, giving Team Hardware a 4–2 advantage.
Ultimately, Team Hardware showed greater composure in the decisive moments of the AOPS showdown, narrowly defeating Team Hosier, 19–18, to seal a dramatic victory at the Australian Open Pickleball Slam.
