The time has finally come. The moment everyone has been waiting for. Players have been gearing up for months. Fans have been dreaming of this day since the schedule was released. Ladies and gentlemen, the first Pro event of the season is upon us: The Miller’s Ale House  Signature #1 is here. 

All of the best pros in the world will be flocking to Ft. Lauderdale, Florida, and the Broward County Convention Center for three days of intense competition that culminates with our first television broadcast of the Pro season, where we will crown champions. 

This preview will focus solely on Pro Singles: Who I think will win, how the brackets will play out, as well as sleepers and who will walk away with the honor of being named Pro Singles champion in Ft. Lauderdale.

Since there are 13 players all tied for the number one spot, they were all randomly put in order and snaked for the bracket. The 13 players filled every one, two, and three seed in each bracket, and one four seed as well. 

 

Bracket A

In bracket A, Trey Burchfield is the lucky person who drew the 1 seed, Gavin Cano is the 2 seed, and Logan Chamberlain the 3. When looking through bracket A, it didn’t feel as stacked as some of the others I will talk about later on. I believe Burchfield will have a pretty easy path to the quarters, barring a Cinderella-like run from somebody like Zayne Crots or Austin Cameron. 

Erick Davis is the 4 seed and I really like his path as well. If he can get past Gabriel Clauson, I predict it will set up a Davis vs. Burchfield semi-final. Oh yeah, not to mention, it's round-limited. It's going to be hard to go against Erick this weekend.

On the other side of the bracket, I think 15 seeded Gage Landis poses the toughest test for Gavin Cano in their quadrant final, and I expect to see Mason Traiteur playing the winner of that one. 

On the bottom right half of bracket A, we should be set up for a star-studded quarter-final match between Alex Rawls and Logan Chamberlain. I doubt either player loses before they see each other. 

Keep an eye out for bracket busters like 22-seed Jordan Camba and 11-seed Matt Wilson. Other than that, I don’t expect much. I predict an Erick Davis vs. Gavin Cano Bracket final.

 

Bracket B

Bracket B will be intense. You have the best doubles team in the country in the same bracket. Mark Richards as the 1 seed, Tony Smith as the 2 seed. The only good thing to come from this is that they are on opposite sides of the bracket, and wouldn’t face each other until the winner’s final. 

Richards will have no problem winning his quadrant, and will most likely play either Ryan Windsor or Noah Almanza. I give a slight edge to Almanza in this one. Noah was outstanding in Brighton, Michigan, a few weeks ago, and both of his losses came to Richards. I expect Richards to win a close one and then beat fifth-seeded Jordan Power to make it to the winners final. 

The other side of the bracket is just as intense. Zack Aiken as the 3 seed is brutal, and I think he has a pretty easy quadrant. If he makes it out, I see an incredible match vs. Tony Smith brewing. Smith will most likely have to face either Cody Henderson or Chris Roybal to make it out of his quadrant, and then Landen Crabtree or Jayden Ellis to make the semi-final. If he does, I think he takes down Aiken as well. I have a chalk final for this one. Mark Richards vs. Tony Smith, but this time, Tony Smith takes it down. 

There are players looking to prove me wrong, however. My big sleeper is Chris Kingsbury, who is the 47 seed, and 25-seed Tommy Sliker.

 

Bracket C

One-seed Ethan Walker has a relatively easy quadrant, but if he makes it out of that, all bets are off. If he wins his first two games, his next could be against Colby Shearer, Brayden Wilson, or Jakob Gore. Then if he wins that, he could play a slew of talent from the bottom half, which include Bryce Forbes, Quinn Reeves, Matt Guy and 52-seed Kyle Malone, which may be the best 52 seed of all time. Tough stretch for Ethan Walker.

The right side of the bracket is just as bad. Jacob Trzcienski is the 2 seed, and will have to play 15-seed Derek Holland to make it out of his quadrant. I truly believe that Derek Holland is one of the hottest players on the planet right now, and I can make a legitimate case that he can win the entire bracket. Winner of that will probably play Cheyenne Bubenheim, which is scary in round-limited.

Below that, the 3 seed Devon Harbaugh is looking at a matchup against Jamie Graham to get to either Holland, Trzcienski, or Bubenheim. That has instant classic written all over it. 

While I am pretty confident in how this will play out, don’t count out other players like 39-seed Alan Rawls, 17-seed Zack Schibner or 7-seed Levi Haddock.

My prediction for this bracket includes a Derek Holland vs. Jamie Graham bracket final, with Jamie getting back to the big stage on the singles side.

 

Bracket D

Bracket “D” stands for Death. You have Sammy Soto as the 1 seed. Cash Chamness as the 2 seed. Ryan Traiteur as the 3 seed. Jackson Gore as the 4. Gore drew the short end of the stick and is the only player of the 13 tied for 1st who is a 4 seed, and boy is he going to have to pay for it. 

Most likely, his first match will be against two-time Singles National Champion Fisher Hamilton. If he wins that, he plays reigning Rookie of the Year and MVP Jeremiah Ellis. If he wins that, he plays Doubles World Champion Adam Hissner. Finally, if Gore somehow makes it through all of that, he will face his former Pro partner, and the person who beat him in the overall final of Pro Singles in Myrtle Beach, Sammy Soto. Talk about a gauntlet. I feel for the kid, and if he can make it through it all, he will have my early season vote for MVP.

The right side of the bracket is a little bit calmer. My big question for this side is “what Ryan Traiteur will we see?” Has he figured out his problems? Or will the slump continue. Unfortunately, I haven’t seen anything out of him that makes me believe he has fixed his problems, so I cannot bring myself to pick him to go far. I have either Jimmy Youmans, Eric Zocklein, or Jeff Reynolds winning that quadrant.

The bottom right quadrant looks like it will be Jay Rubin vs. Logan Dupler, and that sounds electric. I have Dupler pulling out a tight one, and solidifying an all-junior final four. Sammy Soto vs. Jackson Gore, and Cash Chamness vs. Logan Dupler. 

Ultimately I have Gore vs. Soto in the bracket final, and Jackson Gore completing one of the toughest gauntlets of all time and winning his bracket.

I am well prepared for all of these predictions to be completely wrong, as that’s usually what happens when I think someone will win, but that’s just the way it goes. This weekend is going to be incredible. If you’re in the area, make sure you stop by and check it out. If not, keep up with the livestreams all weekend long on the ACL Facebook, ACL Youtube and ESPN+. 

 

Jake’s Takes

Bracket A: Erick Davis over Gavin Cano

Bracket B: Tony Smith over Mark Richards

Bracket C: Jamie Graham over Derek Holland

Bracket D: Jackson Gore over Sammy Soto

 

Overall Pro Singles Champion: Tony Smith