Goldin Completes Golden Comeback
| August 23, 2026
Down 10-5 in the decider. Match point against him. Move over, Rocky. Shenzhen had its own comeback story.
Grayson Goldin saved match point and ripped off seven straight points to snatch the Skechers Shenzhen Open 2026 Men’s Singles title from Hien Truong 4-11, 11-9, 12-10, perhaps the biggest win of his career pulled from the very brink of defeat.
It should not have been close to possible. Truong had cruised the opening game 11-4 and stood five points from the trophy at 10-5 in the third. Then Goldin let go of the brakes.
Passing shots from impossible angles. Backhands fired without a flicker of doubt. High-risk, high-wire pickleball played by a man with nothing to lose and everything to prove. Truong could only watch as the lead evaporated point by point, and once Goldin drew level there was no stopping him. Seven in a row. Game, match, gold.
The breakthrough had been building brick by brick. Goldin had turned up at three Asia stops before this one and walked away from every one at the round of 16, beaten in three games at the Panas Malaysia Cup 2025, the Sansan Tokyo Open and the MB Ho Chi Minh City Open, each time going down by just two points in the decider. So close, so many times. In Shenzhen the door finally swung open, and he tore straight through it to the title.
It caps a year that began in possibly the hardest way imaginable. Goldin suffered two strokes in February and temporarily lost his speech, and has spoken openly about the long road back since. Six months on, he stands on the top step of the podium in Shenzhen.
FOLLOW TOURNAMENT ACTION
There was history of a different kind in the Women’s Doubles. Sophia Nhi Huynh and Ho Tam beat Lingwei Kong and Selina Turulja 11-9, 3-11, 11-6 to become the first Vietnamese women to win a Women’s Doubles gold on the PPA Tour Asia. A milestone moment for the home nation’s growing contingent.
Heartbreak went on for Eunggwon Kim and Hong Kit Wong. A day after finally ending their run of semifinal defeats, the top seeds fell at the last step instead, beaten 11-7, 11-8 by Collin Johns and Len Yang in the Men’s Doubles final. The gold that has eluded them all year eludes them still.
Meanwhile Chao Yi Wang marked her return to the tour with a title, downing reigning Tokyo champion Rika Fujiwara 11-4, 11-8 for the Women’s Singles gold. Having lost two singles finals on the past in China, Wang finally shook the monkey off her back. In the Mixed Doubles, Sahra Dennehy, who was celebrating her 23rd birthday and Tama Shimabukuro beat Huynh and Truong 11-6, 11-1, a gold that gave the 15-year-old Shimabukuro something to show for a huge weekend after his own triple crown bid fell short.
Next stop is the Leapmotor Kuala Lumpur Cup from September 9-13. Get tickets for the PPA Asia 1000 event now.
