Gavin Manders prepared for his maiden appearance at the United States national championships by winning three titles on the final day of the BDA Blue Pickleball Open at Pomander Gate Tennis & Pickleball Club on Wednesday.

Manders, who will be playing with Benjamin Jones in Mesa, Arizona after the two won a silver medal at the Chase APP Miami Pickleball Open in March, triumphed in the men’s open singles, men’s doubles and the mixed doubles.

The 38-year-old came from a game down to beat Massimo Armani 2-1 for his singles win and teamed up with Mark Cordeiro to overcome Tom Mills and Ryan Matcham to win by a similar scoreline in the men’s doubles.

In the final match of the night, the former Davis Cup player combined with Melisa Judd to record a 2-0 victory over Christine Todd and Mills in the mixed doubles.

“It was all about carrying the momentum from the World Cup in Peru,’’ Manders told The Royal Gazette.

“I was using this as a warm-up for the US national championships. I’m also preparing for the Bermuda National Championships starting on Monday, so for me it’s just using each one to get better and grow the sport.

“The conditions were tricky with all the wind, but I just played my normal game and remained focused.

“I knew that if I did everything right with the knowledge I have, with my partners playing their roles, we should succeed.

“Everyone that we played was tough competition, but we knew that if we did everything we were supposed to do, tactically we’ll always be one of the favourites.”

Manders and Jones, who is studying in Massachusetts, will be joined by Sue Chiappa at the Arizona tournament, which concludes on Sunday.

“I know that we’re good enough to compete and do well in the US,’’ he said. “I’ve never been to the nationals for pickleball, so it’s the first, and we’re ready.

“Peru was a good international experience to get us ready. We are playing in the men’s doubles 5.0 open division, where we’ll play the best players in that range.”

Judd, who also won the women’s doubles with Janice Bucci, is delighted to get back into action as she prepares for next week’s national championships.

“It was a great tournament and I enjoyed playing,” Judd said. “ It’s always good to play a week before the nationals.

“I’m really looking forward to playing with my usual partner Patricia Mills next week. We had a couple of tournaments before, but this is great practice for next week.”

Vincent Chaves and Gary Perry were involved in the longest match of the night when they lost 2-1 in the men’s 3.5 to Bill Bucci and Mical Russell. Chaves and Perry fought back after losing the first game 11-7 to triumph 11-9 in the second, which forced the match into the third game, where their opponents prevailed 11-9.

“It was a very competitive match and we thought we matched up quite well with them,” Chaves said.

“We had a plan, it just didn't work out for us, but we’ll try to deliver better next time.”

There was also success for the mother and daughter pairing of Sheila Fisher and Courtney Fisher, who defeated Sarah Fox and Mary Ellen Ewles 2-0 in the women’s 3.5 event.

Ryon Outerbridge, the tournament director, was pleased that the finals were played after the deciding matches were moved from Tuesday to Wednesday due to the wind and rain.

“The tournament went really well and the weather co-operated with us most of the way,” Outerbridge said.

“I’m relieved that we had all the finals played because we would have started losing people through travelling, and other commitments.

“We are really grateful to our three main sponsors, Bermuda Blue Printing, BGA Wholesale Distributor and AC Brewer Distributors.”