PPA Chicago Cup 2026: Burnel Stuns Hunter Johnson

No. 55 Emilien Burnel beat No. 3 Hunter Johnson 13-11, 5-11, 11-9 on the opening day of the PPA Chicago Cup as Ford and Tellez also fell.

The short answer: No. 55 seed Emilien Burnel beat No. 3 Hunter Johnson 13-11, 5-11, 11-9 in the opening round of the Veolia Chicago Cup. No. 54 Daniel Phillips beat No. 7 Zane Ford, No. 44 Mohaned Alhouni beat No. 19 Pablo Tellez, and Augustus Ge swept Zane Navratil 11-2, 11-5 to set up a match with No. 2 Federico Staksrud.

Emilien Burnel produced the first major shock of the Veolia Chicago Cup by eliminating No. 3 seed Hunter Johnson, but the disruption did not end there. Zane Ford and Pablo Tellez also fell to substantially lower seeds, Zane Navratil was swept aside and Tyson McGuffin survived a three-game scare. Now Federico Staksrud, Ben Johns and Anna Leigh Waters enter a Chicago tournament that has already demonstrated the danger waiting below the seeded line.

Chicago did not wait for its biggest names to arrive before producing its first major upset.

Third seed Hunter Johnson is already out.

No. 55 Emilien Burnel delivered the result of the opening round at the Veolia Chicago Cup, surviving a three-game battle with Johnson 13-11, 5-11, 11-9 to remove one of the leading men’s singles seeds before several of the tournament favourites had struck a competitive ball.

The timing makes the result even more striking. Johnson won the men’s singles title at the PPA National Championships in Cary last month and arrived in Chicago only days after another title in Las Vegas, where he beat Federico Staksrud in the semi-final before overwhelming Ben Johns 11-1, 11-3 in the final.

Burnel stopped that run immediately.

And his was not an isolated result.

No. 7 seed Zane Ford surrendered an 11-2 opening-game advantage against No. 54 Daniel Phillips. No. 19 Pablo Tellez was beaten in straight games by No. 44 Mohaned Alhouni. Zane Navratil was dismantled 11-2, 11-5 by Augustus Ge, while Donald Young took the first game against Ivan Jakovljevic before losing a tight three-game contest.

Tyson McGuffin came uncomfortably close to joining them.

By the end of the opening round, Chicago had done considerably more than fill the remaining spaces in the Round of 32. It had removed two of the top seven seeds in men’s singles, opened sections of the bracket that had appeared considerably less inviting 24 hours earlier and given several outsiders something more valuable than a theoretical opportunity.

They have already won here.

Now Federico Staksrud, Ben Johns, Christopher Haworth, JW Johnson and Dylan Frazier enter the draw.

And the players waiting for them know what Chicago has already done to the hierarchy.

Burnel produces the shock of the day

Burnel’s victory over Johnson deserves to stand apart from everything else that happened.

The Frenchman entered as the No. 55 seed against No. 3 and immediately demonstrated that the numbers would not decide the match for him, edging an absorbing opening game 13-11.

Johnson responded as a leading seed should. He took the second 11-5 and appeared to have restored the expected order.

Burnel refused to disappear.

The deciding game remained close enough for the pressure to move increasingly towards Johnson, and Burnel finished the job 11-9 to complete by far the largest seeding upset of the men’s opening round.

That distinction matters.

Johnson was not simply a familiar name caught cold in an early match. He was the third seed and one of the form singles players on the PPA Tour, positioned in the draw as a contender expected to survive deep into the week.

Instead, his singles tournament is finished before Staksrud, Johns and several other leading contenders have begun theirs.

It changes the geography of that section, too.

Burnel now faces Mota Alhouni, an 11-6, 11-9 winner over Christopher Crouch. Where Johnson had represented the obvious barrier to everyone beneath him, there is suddenly a route into the last 16 for two players who began the tournament outside the top 25 seeds.

An upset matters most when it changes what becomes possible afterwards.

This one has.

Ford goes from 11-2 up to out

If Johnson’s defeat was the biggest shock, Zane Ford’s was arguably the most dramatic reversal.

Ford, seeded seventh, appeared to have established complete control against No. 54 Daniel Phillips when he raced through the opening game 11-2.

Then the match turned.

Phillips won the second 11-3 and carried that momentum into the decider, taking it 11-7 to eliminate another of the tournament’s leading seeds.

The consequence extends beyond Ford’s departure.

Phillips now faces Camden Chaffin, who defeated Pesa Teoni 11-0, 11-6, which guarantees that one of them will reach the Round of 16 from a section in which Ford had been the obvious favourite to progress.

For Ford, the day became more difficult still when men’s doubles began.

Partnering Grayson Goldin as the No. 26 seeds, Ford won the opening game 11-5 against No. 34 seeds Indigo Dagnall and Aryaan Bhatia. Once again, the advantage disappeared. Dagnall and Bhatia responded 11-8, 11-3, giving Ford a second defeat on the opening day.

Two competitions. Two opening games won. Two exits.

Chicago could hardly have started more brutally for him.

Tellez joins the casualties

Pablo Tellez became another significant men’s singles casualty when No. 44 seed Mohaned Alhouni beat the No. 19 seed 11-8, 13-11.

There was no three-game recovery to consider and no collapse from a dominant opening position. Alhouni simply beat the higher seed in two.

His reward is Dylan Frazier.

That is precisely where the opening results begin to influence the Round of 32. Frazier enters as the established player and clear favourite, but Alhouni arrives having already dealt with one opponent ranked considerably above him in the draw.

The rankings still matter.

So does evidence.

Alhouni now has some.

Ge sends Navratil straight into Staksrud

Zane Navratil’s defeat requires slightly different treatment.

On seeding alone, No. 37 Augustus Ge defeating No. 31 Navratil is not comparable with Burnel beating Johnson or Phillips eliminating Ford.

The manner of the victory is what changes the conversation.

Ge won 11-2, 11-5.

Navratil never reached six points in either game, and Ge now moves directly from that performance into one of the defining matches of the Round of 32.

Federico Staksrud awaits.

The No. 2 seed enters Chicago as one of the players expected to contest the title. Ge enters having already played on the courts and comprehensively beaten an experienced opponent.

That does not make Ge the favourite, nor does one strong performance erase the gulf in seeding.

It does make Staksrud’s opening assignment considerably more interesting than it looked when the draw was published.

McGuffin finds a way out

Tyson McGuffin discovered how quickly the same opening round could have swallowed him.

Rafa Hewett took the first game 11-6 and then pushed McGuffin deep into the second. Another few points in the wrong direction and McGuffin would have joined Johnson and Ford among the early departures.

Instead, he responded.

McGuffin edged the second 11-9 and survived another tight game to take the decider 11-8.

In isolation, surviving an opening-round match might not sound particularly significant. Set against what happened elsewhere in the draw, it becomes more meaningful.

Johnson could not finish Burnel.

Ford could not stop Phillips once the momentum turned.

McGuffin found the adjustment he needed.

Rafael Lenhard, who defeated Jonathan Truong 11-7, 11-4, is next.

Miyoshi keeps Japan moving

Chicago’s international presence also survived several difficult opening assignments.

Japan’s Kenta Miyoshi lost his opening game 12-10 against Max Freeman before responding 11-6, 11-7. He now meets No. 10 seed Jaume Martinez Vich, who defeated Armaan Jiwa Mawji 12-10, 11-6.

Burnel has already supplied the day’s outstanding international result. Miyoshi now has an opportunity to add another against an established singles player.

Elsewhere, Jack Sock produced one of the opening round’s most emphatic performances, allowing Martin Stanchev just two points in an 11-0, 11-2 victory.

Miles Hoover comes next after surviving Jace Morris 12-10, 7-11, 12-10.

Donald Young was unable to join Sock in the Round of 32. Young took the opening game 11-5 against Ivan Jakovljevic but lost two desperately tight games 11-9, 11-9. Jakovljevic advances to face Tama Shimabukuro.

Now the heavyweights arrive

This is where the complexion of Chicago changes.

Federico Staksrud begins against Augustus Ge.

Ben Johns faces Roscoe Bellamy.

Christopher Haworth meets Connor Mogle.

JW Johnson gets Alexander Crum.

Dylan Frazier faces Mohaned Alhouni.

The established hierarchy is finally entering a men’s singles draw that has already lost its No. 3 and No. 7 seeds.

That should not be mistaken for evidence that the favourites themselves are suddenly vulnerable. Staksrud, Johns and the other leading players occupy their positions because they have repeatedly negotiated precisely this stage of tournaments.

But their opponents no longer arrive carrying only a seed number and an outside chance.

Ge has just beaten Navratil 11-2, 11-5.

Alhouni has already eliminated Tellez.

Burnel has already produced the result of the tournament.

Chicago’s leading players are entering the competition.

Several of their opponents are already inside it.

Women’s singles resists the chaos

The women’s singles draw was noticeably more stable.

There was no equivalent of Johnson’s departure, although several players were forced into difficult three-game contests.

Allyce Jones survived Elsie Hendershot 11-8, 6-11, 12-10, while Nida Siefferman needed three games to defeat Angie Walker 11-3, 10-12, 11-3.

Estee Widdershoven produced another comeback, recovering after Sofia Sewing took the opening game 11-3 to win the next two 11-8, 11-9.

Her reward is a significant escalation in difficulty.

Catherine Parenteau awaits.

Carlota Trevino’s 11-6, 11-3 victory over Naomi Nguyen earns her the most formidable assignment in the bracket: Anna Leigh Waters.

Aiko Yoshitomi faces Kiora Kunimoto after defeating Paula Rives 11-5, 12-10. Marcela Aguila Ampon’s emphatic 11-4, 11-1 victory over Natalia Simson sends her into a meeting with Judit Castillo, while Christa Gecheva’s 11-2, 11-4 win over Luana Stanciu sets up a match with Kate Fahey.

The opening round did not tear apart the women’s hierarchy.

The Round of 32 gives the challengers their opportunity to do it.

Doubles turns up the difficulty

The transition between rounds becomes even clearer in doubles.

Keilly Ulery and Isabella Nelson defeated Luana Stanciu and Camila Zilveti 11-6, 11-9 in women’s doubles.

Now they face Anna Bright and Anna Leigh Waters.

Aibika Kalsarieva and Alexa Quintanilla beat Ashley Griffith and Marcela Aguila Ampon 11-8, 11-1 and move on to Rachel Rohrabacher and Tina Pisnik.

Carlota Trevino and CC Eleven Sacca defeated Jade Rau and Natalia Simson 11-6, 11-6. Catherine Parenteau and Tyra Hurricane Black are next.

Men’s doubles offers the same sudden escalation.

Eli Steiner and Kyle Yates survived Wil Shaffer and Eduardo Santini Ayon 11-4, 7-11, 11-9 and now face Federico Staksrud and Hayden Patriquin.

Donald Young and Luca Mack recovered from losing their opening game 11-3 to Miles Hoover and George Rangelov, winning 3-11, 11-9, 11-4. Their reward is CJ Klinger and Eric Oncins.

Anouar Braham and Bruno Faletto were even more emphatic, defeating Luke Wasson and Chuck Taylor 11-0, 11-2.

Then they look across the bracket.

Jack Sock and Ben Johns.

The opening round earned them another match.

The Round of 32 tells them exactly how much that match is worth.

Mixed doubles adds another layer

Mixed doubles did not produce a Hunter Johnson-scale shock, but it created several matches capable of becoming significant in the Round of 32.

Aiko Yoshitomi and Kenta Miyoshi recovered from dropping their second game against Luc Pham and Genie Erokhina, eventually advancing 11-5, 3-11, 11-3.

Their next opponents are Kate Fahey and Federico Staksrud.

Judit Castillo and Tyson McGuffin also required three games, recovering after losing the opener to Will MacKinnon and Jade Rau to win 8-11, 11-6, 11-3. CJ Klinger and Kiora Kunimoto await.

Angie Walker and James Delgado produced another comeback against Zane Navratil and Elsie Hendershot. After winning the opener 11-0, they were beaten 11-2 in the second before taking the deciding game 11-9.

It meant Navratil finished the opening phase with defeats in both men’s singles and mixed doubles.

Elsewhere, Max Freeman and Cailyn Campbell beat Genie Bouchard and Patrick Smith 11-3, 11-9, while Lacy Schneemann and Jack Sock swept Paula Rives and Wyatt Stone 11-5, 11-1.

At the top of the bracket, Anderson Scarpa and Liz Truluck’s 11-2, 11-7 victory over Christopher Crouch and Jaeda Minniefield earns them perhaps the clearest demonstration of the difference between the opening two rounds.

Ben Johns and Anna Leigh Waters are next.

Chicago has already issued the warning

There is no need to manufacture jeopardy around the Round of 32.

The opening round supplied enough of it.

The No. 3 men’s singles seed is gone. So is No. 7. Pablo Tellez has been eliminated by the No. 44 seed. Navratil was beaten decisively. Ford then lost again in doubles. McGuffin came within one game of disappearing himself.

Those results do not mean the hierarchy has collapsed.

They mean the hierarchy has been warned.

For Staksrud, Ge is no longer simply the lower seed written beside his name in the bracket. He is the player who has just beaten Navratil 11-2, 11-5.

For Frazier, Alhouni is not simply No. 44. He is the player who has already removed Tellez.

And Burnel is no longer simply No. 55.

In Chicago, for now, he is the man who knocked out No. 3.

The favourites still have the rankings, the records and every reason to expect to advance.

Their challengers have something rather more immediate.

Proof that this draw can be broken.

---

Frequently asked questions

Further reading

• Waters Stopped at 199 as Bright and Patriquin Win Las Vegas
• Cary Spent a Week Breaking the Script. On Sunday, the Champions Took It Back
• Arizona Opened the Door. Haworth, Alshon and the Tour’s Disruptors Walked Through It