Earlier this week we rolled out our Top 20 Men’s Doubles Power Rankings, which transitioned to individuals rather than partnerships.

Since doubles pairings are fluid and have been shaken up due to injuries, we figured this will provide a more realistic viewpoint of who the best women’s doubles players are in the world right now.

These rankings are a subjective view of the entire pro field. Here are some of the factors taken into consideration:

• Recent finishes (specifically 2024 results)
• PPA Points
• APP Points
• Head-to-head competition
• Number of events played
• Injuries

The women’s field is even a little more difficult to rank than the men because of the PPA and APP gap. Obviously the PPA Tour has more talent and the field is deeper, but how much deeper is the question. I did my best to balance the level of difficulty on each tour along with consistent finishes.

On the Outside Looking in

• Jessie Irvine – Irvine is the epitome of consistency on the APP Tour, literally always finishing 7th or 8th with multiple partners. While she is consistent, she needs a semifinal run or two in order to make the list.
• Jackie and Jade Kawamoto – It is wild to me that I had to leave the Kawamoto sisters off the list, but they only have one medal between them this year on the PPA…

The fourth of four straight PPA Tour tournaments in April takes place this weekend in St. George, Utah. The PPA Red Rock Open kicks off Wednesday at the Little Valley Sports Complex. 

Due to the quick turnaround times of the tournaments in April, there are quite a few players not attending this tour stop. Some of the players missing are:

• Anna Leigh Waters
• Catherine Parenteau
• Riley Newman
• Thomas Wilson
• Matt Wright
• Rachel Rohrabacher
• Lucy Kovalova
• Brooke Buckner
• Parris Todd

How To Watch the PPA Red Rock Open

All times are EST

Thursday, April 25th – Singles

• 1-9pm – Championship Court – PickleballTV/Prime Video
• 1-7pm – Grandstand Court – PPA YouTube 

Friday, April 26th – Mixed Doubles

• 1-9pm – Championship Court – PickleballTV/Prime Video
• 1-7pm – Grandstand Court – PPA YouTube 

Saturday, April 27th – Gender Doubles

• 1-9pm – Championship Court – PickleballTV/Prime Video
• 1-7pm – Grandstand Court – PPA YouTube 

Sunday, April 28st – Championship Sunday

• 1-7pm – Championship Court – PickleballTV/Prime Video
• Noon-4pm – Bronze Grandstand Court – PPA YouTube 

Women’s Singles

Storylines

• Mary Brascia is the No. 1 seed for the third time in a row – can she make it to Championship Sunday?
• Can No. 18 seed Alix Truong follow up her 6th-place finish at PPA Houston with another deep…

The US Open Championships wrapped up a successful week in Naples, Florida, on Sunday. It was one of the largest pickleball tournaments in history, with over 4,800 participants taking part – the vast majority of which were amateurs.

According to the US Open website, players from all 50 states participated and at least 29 different countries were represented as well.

Key Takeaways

The Fan Experience Was Electric

Remember this was a week-long party pickleball tournament. Play started April 13th and ended April 20th. With 60 pickleball courts, a beer garden, daily live music, and plenty of food vendors readily available, the US Open really made sure the fans had a great time.

Watching Leigh and Anna Leigh Waters Play Together Again Was Awesome

Leigh and Anna Leigh ended up winning the women’s pro doubles category in dominating fashion. Obviously Anna Leigh is the best women’s player in the game today, but Leigh proved she still has plenty of game.

On their way to gold, the mother-daughter duo had to win four matches. The combined score of those matches was 88-29. The most points against ALW and Leigh in any of their games was six, and that only happened twice. Here are their full results:

• (17) Alia Brown/Sarah Hua – 11-3, 11-0
• (25) Pei-chuan…

Pickleball has been the fastest-growing sport in America for a few years now. Unfortunately, that paints a big target on it.

While some see this as a chance to join in and enjoy the ride, others see it as a chance for greed and exploitation.

It’s the latter that’s happening to a chain of family-owned tennis and pickleball stores in Colorado and Las Vegas.

Thieves keep targeting Game-Set-Match

Earlier this year, we reported on thieves stealing over $20,000 worth of pickleball merchandise from three different Game-Set-Match stores in Denver.

Unfortunately, they’ve been hit again. This time, at their location in Las Vegas, Nevada.

A family owned tennis and pickleball store in the Southwest Valley is the latest target of thieves. https://t.co/KwIpATN0qp

— KTNV | Channel 13 News Las Vegas (@KTNV) April 17, 2024

The crime was caught on camera last week, and it shows multiple people tucking away 16 pickleball paddles worth about $5,000.

In the video, a man catches the store manager’s attention while two women swipe the merchandise. All while holding a small child.

“They looked around a little bit toward the pickleball section,” said Conrad Corona, the General Manager of the Las Vegas store. “But the male distracted me and the two females saw an opportunity to…

The National Pickleball League held its draft over the weekend in advance of the 2024 season in Naples, Florida, marking a new chapter in the league’s commitment to nurturing talent and reinforcing its status as the top professional 50-plus league in the sport.

Each of the rosters has up to eight women and eight men, and together is comprised of virtually all of the top Champions Pros in the sport, including the likes of Hall of Famers Jennifer Dawson and Scott Moore, former top tennis professionals Jaime Oncins and Piet Aldrich, former Heisman Trophy winner and NFL quarterback Danny Wuerffel, and top-ranked league co-founders Beth Bellamy and Rick Witsken.

Here are the official player rosters for the 2024 NPL Pickleball season.

Austin Ignite

Women: Leslie Bernard, Connie Burnett, Taunya Davis, Jennifer Gallwas, Chris Karges, Tina Lum, Yvonne Ting, Carolyn Weed

Men: Lance Cowart, Daniel Gold, John Hostetler, Michael Pazourek, John Sperling, Scott Trevethan, Dave Weinbach, Chris Wilton

Boca Raton Picklers

Women: Yvonne D’Aquino, Tracey Flynn, Suzanne LeBlang, Pam Lippy, Ginny Purdy, Audra Spielberger, Taylor Taylor, Kara Williams

Men: Brian Levine, Alan Mendelson, Robert…

Similar to our Men’s Top 20 Power Rankings that dropped earlier this week, there are quite a few newcomers to our latest Top 20 on the women’s side since we published our initial Top 20 Women’s Singles Power Rankings back in February.

These rankings are a subjective view of the field. I am taking into account a variety of factors:

• Recent finishes
• PPA points and seedings
• APP points
• Head-to-head competition

This is NOT a scientific algorithm or an AI bot making picks. Just a guy who watches a LOT of pickleball. APP players are now included in the rankings because we have been able to see them in four events this year.

20. Jill Braverman (Pv. 18) – Braverman has only played three singles events in 2024. She made the Round of 16 in both the PPA Mesa and the APP Delray Beach. In Mesa she got a win over Ava Ignatowich, and in Delray she beat Alia Brown. Braverman needs to play more in order to maintain her Top 20 ranking moving forward.

19. Amanda Hendry (N/R) – Hendry was not in the Power Rankings last time because she exclusively plays APP events and we had only seen her once. Hendry has since made the quarterfinals in both APP Sacramento and APP Miami. In Sacramento, Hendry beat Nicole Eugenio and took Alix Truong to three games. In Miami, Amanda beat…

The APP Vlasic Classic in Delray Beach, Florida, was the second tour stop in a row in Florida for the APP, following the APP Miami Open a couple of weeks ago.

No triple crowns and some surprising results this weekend. JW Johnson earned three medals, but only got gold in singles. Jorja got two gold medals, but missed out in singles. Gabe Tardio got a silver medal in men’s doubles and gold with Jorja in mixed doubles. Will Howells continued his medal streak and took a bronze in singles.

In addition to the tournament, the APP hosted the 2023 Player of the Year awards celebration on Friday night.

• Male Pro Mixed and Men’s Doubles – Andrei Daescu
• Female Pro Mixed Doubles – Susannah Barr
• Male Pro Singles – Hunter Johnson
• Female Pro Women’s Doubles – Simone Jardim
• Female Pro Singles – Salome Devidze
• Female Most Improved – Alix Truong & Allison Harris
• Male Most Improved – William Sobek & CJ Klinger
• Male Rookie of the Year – Richard Livornese Jr
• Female Rookie of the Year – Riley Bohnert

Biggest storylines from the weekend

Michael Loyd and Ryler DeHeart had a great run and even beat John Cincola and Brendon Long on their way to a fourth-place finish. If Loyd can string together a few more results, he will most likely get picked up by a Challenger Level team looking…

There were plenty of storylines and drama throughout the week at the PPA North Carolina Cup, culminating in Anna Leigh Waters reaching a crazy career milestone and another triple for Ben Johns.

The venue at Cary Tennis Park in Cary, North Carolina, looked like it was a perfect spot on the PPA Tour and will continue to be a tour stop. Championship Court had great seating and the crowds were huge all week long.

Now, on to the storylines:

100 Gold Medals for ALW

Anna Leigh Waters wins her 100th PPA title and her record 24th triple-crown @AnnaLeighWaters pic.twitter.com/RzQ8BexNUQ

— Carvana PPA Tour (@PPAtour) April 7, 2024

Anna Leigh Waters has earned herself 100 gold medals on the PPA Tour at the age of 17. The next closest woman on tour is Anna Leigh’s women’s partner – Catherine Parenteau – who has 37 gold medals. 

• Waters has 36 singles titles, 31 women’s doubles titles and 33 mixed doubles titles – she is the all-time leader on the women’s side in PPA Tour titles.
• Her first Gold Medal came in August, 2021 when she won singles at the Takeya showcase. Her quest to 100 titles took less than three years to complete.
• She has won at least one gold medal in 41 of 45 PPA Tour events played.
• In her career, she is averaging 2.22 gold medals…

Who doesn’t love some power rankings?

The DUPR Collegiate Power Rankings were released on Friday. Here are the eligibility requirements.

They’re calculated by adding the doubles DUPR of the four best players (two men and two women) at a school together. To be considered for the power rankings, a school must have attended a DUPR team event.

To be eligible to count towards their school’s power ranking, a player 1.) must still be a current student at that college, 2.) must have played in any DUPR event, and 3.) must have a doubles DUPR.

Spring, summer, and fall graduates have until July 31st, August 31st, and December 31st, respectively, before their student status is removed.

State-by-state comparison

To nobody’s surprise, both Florida and Utah have four schools in the top 25. 

• Utah: Utah Tech, Utah Valley, Utah State, and University of Utah
• Florida: FAU, University of Florida, Florida State, and University of North Florida
• Arizona isn’t far behind with three schools in the top 25: ASU, GCU, and UA

As the collegiate club pickleball scene grows, the biggest change I see coming is that California is going to grow tremendously in 2024-2025 – there are too many schools and players in California for it not to potentially dominate the landscape in the near…

Unlike the most recent pro pickleball event in Austin, the APP Delray Beach shouldn’t be interrupted by weather. If anything, it might get a little hot, which could cause the newly crowned ball-of-choice for the APP Tour, the Franklin X-40, to play a little slow. 

Expect longer rallies this weekend.

Here’s how to watch the APP Vlasic Classic – Delray Beach:

• Friday, April 5th – 12-6pm – APPTV (YouTube)
• Saturday, April 6th – 11am-4pm – APPTV (YouTube)
• Saturday, April 6th – 5-7pm – CBSSN
• Sunday, April 7th – 12-1pm – APPTV (YouTube)
• Sunday, April 7th – 2-4pm – CBSSN

Women’s Doubles

• Megan Fudge is playing with Jill Braverman and Susannah Barr is playing with Mari Humberg – the first time on the APP Tour that Barr and Fudge haven’t played together in a very long time.
• Milan Rane and Jorja Johnson are coming off a win at the APP Miami Open – can they make it two in a row?
• Two of the best APP Next Gen players are playing together: Riley Bohnert and Emily Ackerman.

Underdogs

• Cass Hoag and Jessica Warren are two ladies from Florida who can PLAY – maybe a little hometown luck will kickstart a run in Delray.

Predictions

• Rane and Johnson will defeat Jilly B and Megan Fudge in the finals

Mixed Doubles

• Andrei Daescu and Jilly B are pairing up for the first time -…