The Greatest Comeback in Pro Pickleball History, Ben Johns & Anna Leigh Waters NOT making it to the finals and the meteoric rise of Rachel Rohrabacher for the Orlando Squeeze were all fantastic storylines exiting #MLP Atlanta! But I'm here to give you 3 Unique Takeaways following possibly the biggest Pro Event in Pickleball history. 1) Tim Parks 1, Riley Newman 0. Parks, co-owner of the SoCal Hard 8s, got his first MLP championship under his belt before Newman (whom Parks drafted with his first-round pick in Season 1 of 2023). Parks with Newman by his side in Season 1, had abysmal results, which came to the surprise of the Pickleball world. How could Newman, being as good as he is, not at the very least get to one semifinal in the latter two events of season 1. Parks even barked at a celebrity ProAm earlier last week that Newman wasn't a significant factor in Season 1 when being interviewed. All that trash talk prior to the tournament was put to rest when Parks' Hard 8s took home gold in the Challenger Level final over the Las Vegas Night Owls via Dreambreaker. Newman on the other hand was on the wrong side of a Dreambreaker with his D.C. Pickleball Team blowing a 2-0 games lead against the Orlando Squeeze in the Premier Level finals. 2) Ewa Radzikowska Season 1 and Season 2 MLP Champ. So far the Polish Radzikowska is the only player to win an MLP event in Season 1 and Season 2 in 2023. She won the first two events of Season 1 with the Bay Area Breakers, alongside Rachel Summers, Pablo Tellez and Christian Alshon; she followed that up by winning MLP Atlanta with the Hard 8s featuring Yana Newell, Todd Fough and CJ Klinger. While these wins were in the Challenger Level, it takes nothing away from the value Radzikowska brings to her team in all 3 phases of pickleball: gender doubles, mixed doubles and singles. 3) Ackerman follows in Connor Garnett's Footsteps. As I always say (well not really, but I always think it), to make it far in the Challenger Level you need players that got “snubbed” from the Premier Level or “will be” in the Premier Level next draft. Obviously, that has changed since there won't be a draft nor two different levels come the start of 2024, but the sentiment remains the same. I mean look at the Bay Area Breakers who won the first two events in Challenger Level Season 1, they had Pablo Tellez and Christian Alshon who were drafted in the Premier Level for Season 2 (they also had Vivian Glozman in Event 3 in Season 1, who was also drafted in the Premier Level for S2). For me, Ackerman was that player for the Night Owls in Atlanta and she follows in her former teammate Connor Garnett's footsteps, who made the jump from Challenger to Premier Level after winning the Super Final in Season 1! In Atlanta, Ackerman went 4-2 in the group stage on Thursday, then went 2-2 in the playoffs, but had key singles points to take her team to the finals. While her run ended in a loss to the Hard 8s in the championship on Saturday, being a runner-up in any MLP event is something to be proud of. Ackerman followed by Yates Johnson has the most upside on this team. We already know what we're getting from Spencer Smith and Susannah Barr: solid veteran play. But it's Ackerman, that gives this team the X factor they needed to get into the finals. Ackerman is no stranger to coming back after a finals defeat, as she and her Chicago Slice teammates did just that in Event 3 of Season 1 to eventually take home the Super Finals win. Look for her and the Night Owls to do just that in her hometown at the next MLP event in Thousand Oaks in November.