APP tournament opens first day in Punta Gorda

CHARLOTT COUNTY, Florida. It’s the first day of the APP pickleball tournament.

It is very well known here in Florida.

And one of the fastest growing sports in America.

And Wednesday’s APP tournament will be the first of many coming up.

And it even brings a few big names, Andrey Daescu got into the top ten.

“It means a lot to me. I know how hard it was to make that transition from tennis to pickleball,” Daescu said. “There are quite a few tennis pros who are trying to make that transition. It’s great to be able to compete again. Pickleball gave me the chance to do this and I’m very grateful for that.”

And many players like Jeff Grover started playing after they retired.

And for the last 4 years he has worked hard and fell in love with the game.

“It’s a steep learning curve,” Grover said. “Everyone who plays gets pretty good very quickly, and I think that’s one of the appeals of gaming.”

As the tournaments continue to return to southwest Florida, residents like Maggie Camuti of Naples are proud of the quick response they’ve seen welcoming the events home in the wake of Hurricane Jan.

“If you just look at the facility, Fema and everyone has done an outstanding job getting ready for the tournament,” said Kamuti. “And APP did a great job with all of that.”

I hope this is a sign of things to come.