Brandie Wilkerson and Melissa Humana-Paredes have secured their spot in the semifinals of the Volleyball World Beach Pro Tour Montréal Elite, setting up a highly anticipated rematch against Olympic champions Eduarda 'Duda' Lisboa and Ana Patrícia Ramos. The Canadian duo will face their Brazilian rivals on Sunday at the Parc Jean-Drapeau, marking their first encounter since the gold medal match at the Paris Olympics just over a year ago.
The Canadians have maintained a perfect record in the tournament, defeating Brazilian world ranking leaders Thamela Coradello and Victoria Lopes in straight sets (21-10, 21-19) during Saturday's quarterfinals. This victory places them in their first Beach Pro Tour semifinal of the 2025 season after earlier finishes of ninth in Saquarema and fifth in Brasília, Ostrava, and Gstaad.
Interestingly, while both teams have competed in two tournaments since their historic Paris showdown, their paths haven't crossed until now. The head-to-head record favors the Brazilians, who have won five of their six meetings since 2023.
Duda and Ana Patrícia enter Sunday's match in formidable form, having won all four of their matches without dropping a single set. The Olympic gold medalists continued their dominant run by dispatching Austrian sisters Dorina and Ronja Klinger in the quarterfinals (21-14, 21-18).
The second semifinal will feature another compelling matchup as Germans Svenja Müller and Cinja Tillmann face Latvians Tina Graudina and Anastasija Samoilova at 13:00 local time. This pairing also has recent Olympic history, with the Latvians eliminating the Germans in the Round of 16 at Paris in a dramatic three-set battle. However, the Germans hold the overall advantage with four wins in seven meetings, including a victory during pool play in Montréal on Friday.
Wilkerson and Humana-Paredes are aiming to defend their Montréal title after winning gold in the 2023 edition. Can they overcome the Olympic champions who have dominated their recent encounters? The winners of both semifinals will meet in the final scheduled for 18:00 local time (22:00 GMT) to determine who takes home the gold medal from this prestigious Elite event.
