Alexander Crum - The Player that Played Too Well in PPA Atlanta

Alexander Crum had to win three matches in the men’s single pro qualifying round in order to make the main draw at the PPA Veolia Atlanta Pickleball Championships. The relatively unknown player, originally from Louisville, Kentucky did just that, and more.

In fact, Crum played so well, that he may not play on the PPA Tour again. More on this topic at the end of the article, but first, let’s get to know Crum.

In the main draw, Crum had to play two matches on Tuesday, May 13. First, he faced off against 60 seed, Todd Fought, in the Round of 128. Crum was able to beat Fought 11-3, 11-2.

Later that day, he had to face #1 seed, Federico Staksrud, in the Round of 64. Crum upset the best player in the world, 11-9, 5-11, 11-6. 

Wednesday, he beat Mota Alhouni, the 27 seed, 11-1, 4-11, 11-7, in the Round of 32. Thursday, he beat 49 seed, Zane Navratil, 11-5, 4-11, 11-5, in the Round of 16. 

Friday is where his Cinderalla story came to an end, running into a red-hot Dylan Frazier, in the quarterfinals. Crum lost 10-12, 11-3, 3-11.

Who is Crum

Crum just turned 33 years old, and hasn’t played much on the PPA Tour. He just picked up a pickleball paddle two years ago and usually only plays once a week.

As a tennis junior, Crum was a four-star recruit in the class of 2010. He hovered around the 100th national ranking throughout his high-school career, according to tennisrecruiting.net. 

Crum chose to play collegiate tennis at the University of Dayton, but only lasted one year on the Flyers’ roster. 

Crum coaching tennis in Jupiter, Florida Photo Credit: Crum's IG: @acbabybaby

After college, Crum moved to Germany and coached tennis for seven years. In 2020, he moved back to the states and continued his coaching career at elite country clubs throughout the country. He has coached in many different areas and is currently coaching in Jupiter, Florida, where he works full-time.

In a post match interview, Crum told Michelle McMahon that he is on the tennis courts 9–10 hours a day, five or six days a week. He plays pickleball once a week.

Crum's album cover

Oh yeah, I almost forgot - Crum is also an accomplished musician. He describes his style as “contemporary rap” and he released an album in 2022, titled “Just For Fun” under his artist name, AC Baby.

Pickleball Goals

Crum just finished up a tennis coaching season and decided to give his everything to pro pickleball for the next year, starting in Atlanta. He sure picked a great time to start full-time - knocking off the #1 seed and earning a quarterfinal birth.

While Crum isn’t a household name in the pro pickleball landscape, he has had some success on the pickleball courts.

In the past year and a half, he has registered wins over Pablo Tellez, John Lucian Goins, Marshall Brown, Grayson Goldin, Cason Campbell, Max Freeman, and Chris Haworth. Those are some pretty big time wins for a player who only played part-time, up until this point. Thanks to picklewave, for helping me find all of these match wins.

This quarterfinal run on the PPA Tour at a Slam level event was his biggest run thus far in his career. Crum played so well, that he is now in a bit of a pickle. Yes, pun is definitely intended.

Prior to the Veolia Atlanta Pickleball Championships, Crum was ranked tied for 64th place on the PPA Tour in men’s singles, with 400 points. The quarterfinal finish will earn him another 400 points. After Atlanta, Crum will have 700 points, because he will drop the 100 points he earned from last year's Atlanta event. At 700 points, he will be somewhere around the 40-45 ranking, depending on how well other players finish in this tournament.

Why is this a big deal? The PPA has installed a rule this year that says if you are ranked inside the top 50 on the PPA Tour, you cannot play in qualifiers in that event. There is also a rule that says you must be a signed PPA player to automatically make main draw events. 

The combination of these two rules essentially means that Crum has played so well as a qualifier, that he won’t be able to play on the PPA Tour moving forward, unless he signs a PPA exclusive contract.

If Crum truly wants to pursue pro pickleball full-time, he really has three options:

• Sign a PPA exclusive contract
• Play PPA Challenger Series events
• Play on the APP Tour, or other professional tours

When I spoke with Crum yesterday, he is determined to sign a PPA contract, as long as the terms are decent. He feels he brings a lot of value to the game with the contacts he has made throughout his tennis coaching career, and he brings a big personality.

It’s only a matter of time before we find out what Crum’s decision is regarding the future of his pro pickleball career. He is scheduled to play in the Zimmer Biomet APP New York City Open next weekend, and where he plays after that is up in the air.