The English Open wrapped up this weekend in the United Kingdom, with its largest number of players to date. Nearly 2,000 participants from 42 countries participated over the last week as pickleball continues its explosive growth worldwide.

Statistics show nearly 30,000 citizens play pickleball in the U.K., and there are hundreds of places to play the game. I would guess that pickleball is only 3-5 years behind the game in the States.

Here are the key results and takeaways from this year’s English Open:

Women’s Singles

• Mollie Knaggs 
• Alexa Schull
• Pei-Chuan Kao

Knaggs is a British player who has only been playing pickleball for a year, and she was able to beat American Alexa Schull. Pei-Chuan Kao is another British player who earned a bronze medal. She is also the team captain for Sea Surge in MLP Australia.

Men’s Singles

• Max “Purple Jesus” Manthou
• Ryler DeHeart
• William Sobek

Manthou is not the tallest player on tour, but he is extremely quick and has great ground strokes and hands. He gets his nickname from his college days at the University of Washington, where he played D-I tennis – they are the Huskies and purple is their primary color.

Manthou recently published his Master’s Thesis while attending…

(Stats and records from PPA events only)

NOTES:

• This is Waters’ 50^th consecutive tournament winning at least one medal.

=== MEN’S SINGLES ===

#3 TYSON McGUFFIN: 

• His six career gold medals is third all-time behind Johns and Staksrud.
• His last title was nearly a year ago, at the Tournament of Champions, coincidentally against Garnett.
• Beat #1 seed Federico Staksrud in three games in the semis.

#2 CONNOR GARNETT:

• Won the Los Angeles Open in April, vs Federico Staksrud.
• #3 ranked player on Tour. 

Bronze: 

#1 Federico Staksrud:

• Has earned a medal in every tournament this year. (5 gold, 7 silver, and one bronze)
• His nine career men’s singles titles are second only to Ben Johns.
• His nine career titles have come in finals against nine different players.

#9 Christopher Haworth:

• Ranked #10, but was not in the Top 20 at the start of the year.
• Earned his first career title by beating Staksrud in the Orange County Cup in June, his only podium finish this year.

=== WOMEN’S SINGLES ===

#3 BROOKE BUCKNER: 

• Beat top-seed Catherine Parenteau in the quarterfinals.
• Won the Los Angeles Open in April, her first PPA title.
• Was ranked 11^th to start the year, now #6.

#31 KATE FAHEY:

• Beat second-seed…

The English Open is taking place this weekend from August 8th-14th at the Telford International Centre. Telford is in the western part of the country, approximately three hours northwest of London.

Rob Nunnery, Megan Fudge, Ryler DeHeart, Riley Bohnert, Jack Munro, Erik Lange, Max Manthou, and many other Americans are taking part in the festivities.

There will be 41 temporary courts at the Centre, which is essentially a modern convention center. The event has 1,976 registrants hailing from 42 different countries, a staggering number for a region still wrapping its arms around the sport. Participants range from ages 7 to 70.

Here is the entire list of events for the entire week:

Here are the numbers of players in each OPEN draw, which includes some well known U.S.-based players:

Women’s OPEN Singles: 25 players

• Notables: Riley Bohnert, Susannah Barr, Brooke Revuelta, Lauren Mercado, and Kelsey Grambeau

Men’s OPEN Singles: 60 players

• Notables: Ryler DeHeart, Max Manthou, Erik Lange, Richard Livornese, Jr., Jayden Broderick, William Sobek, and Jack Munro

Mixed OPEN Doubles: 90 players

• Megan Fudge/Jack Munro
• Allison Harris/Erik Lange
• Susannah Barr/Rob Nunnery
• Brooke Revuelta/Jack Foster
• Kelsey…

One of the things we try to do with Pickleball Statistics is add specificity to general assumptions. For example, the “third shot drive/fifth shot drop combo.” How often does that actually happen in PPA play? 

Breakdown of the Study

I watched the most recent tournament, the Orange County Cup, played in San Clemente, California on June 30. For this study, nine high-profile matches: the two semifinals and final in each of Men’s, Women’s and Mixed Doubles. Those nine matches had 371 third-shot drives. Here’s the breakdown: 

371 third shot drives. Subtract 27 errors and winners on those drives, and 344 rallies continued.

344 third shot drives in play. The receiving team made 35 errors and winners on their fourth shots, so 309 rallies went to a fifth shot.

309 fifth shot opportunities. The most common option was a drop shot, either as a volley or on a bounce. 203 were hit by either player on the serving team, which is 66 percent of the 309 opportunities.

The second-most common option for a fifth shot was a firm volley, either by the player who hit the third shot drive or his/her teammate, such as a “shake and bake” or the player who drove the ball following his own shot. There were 98 firm volleys, or 31 percent of the 309 fifth shot…

It’s the end of an era.

Parris Todd has announced via Instagram that she is leaving Selkirk, where she has been a sponsored athlete since 2022.

Parris is known for her fiery and competitive spirit on the pickleball court.

But it’s not just her pickleball skills that make Parris special.

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Parris Todd (@itsparristodd)

She’s the type of athlete who transcends the sport she plays with her positivity and passion. She’s known for giving her time freely to fans and has built a social following that proves it.

She helped create a signature paddle, clothing line, and other pickleball accessories during her time with Selkirk as one of their top athletes.

About Parris Todd

Parris is currently ranked 8th in Women’s Singles on the PPA Tour and has won over 43 medals on the APP and PPA Tours. She has also won two MLP titles and was a triple crown winner at the US Open in 2023.

She currently plays for the Orlando Squeeze in Major League Pickleball, where she was a standout in the previous tournament.

Dallas Flash and Texas Ranchers Enjoy MLP’s First Trip to Utah

The Dallas Flash and Texas Ranchers had quite a weekend at MLP’s first event in the state of Utah. Our Erik Tice recaps all of the…

The depth of talent in PPA tournaments is getting better and better. As pickleball’s popularity continues to boom, more people are training and putting in the work to become tournament caliber players, and that hard work is paying off in success at the PPA level, especially in Singles. Beside seeing bigger brackets, and “newer” names reaching the latter rounds of tournaments, how can we measure this phenomenon? Let’s look at the history of Singles champions, medalists, and number of tournaments on the PPA Tour.

---

Women’s Singles: 

2020/2021: 17 tournaments. Five different players won titles (5/17 = .29) and eleven different players won medals (11/17 = .64)

2022: 17 tournaments: Three different players won titles (3/17 = .17) and nine different players won medals (9/17 = .52)

2023: 20 tournaments: Four different players won titles (4/20 = .20) and 15 different players won medals (15/20 = .75)

2024: 13  tournaments: Six different players won titles (6/13 = .46) and 12 different players won medals (12/13 = .92)

---

Men’s Singles:

2020/2021: 17 tournaments: Two different players won titles (2/17 = .11) and eight different players won medals (8/17 = .47)

2022: 17 tournaments: Five different players won titles (5/17 = .29) and 13 different…

It wasn’t long ago that an Erne or an ATP on the PPA tour was usually a winner. Now, those shots are often returned comfortably, with rallies continuing. Just how good are the PPA pros at defending Ernes and ATPs and keeping the ball in play? Let’s look at the stats from all the championship doubles matches in the first part of this season.

Erne defense rate:  What we don’t have is when a player went for an Erne and missed, such as, stepping on the line or hitting it long. Here’s what we do have: stats from the first 13 PPA tournaments of 2024: 

Men’s Doubles Finals:

63 Ernes were hit into the opponent’s court.

36 were either “clean winners” or not returned successfully. (58%)

27 were defended successfully, continuing the rally. (42%)

Women’s Doubles Finals:

29 Ernes were hit into the opponent’s court.

9 were either “clean winners” or not returned successfully. (31%)

20 were defended successfully, continuing the rally. (69%)

Mixed Doubles Finals:

77 Ernes were hit into the opponent’s court.

53 were either “clean winners” or not returned successfully. (68%)

24 were defended successfully, continuing the rally. (32%)

Cumulative Doubles Finals:

169 Ernes were hit into the opponent’s…

Dialed-in Dinks: 

Federico Staksrud and Hayden Patriquin were the only team to play a Doubles final (Sacramento Open) without hitting a dink into the net or wide. How rare is this? It happened only twice last year.

1-2-3 x 2: 

Teammates in a Doubles final who did not hit a ball “out” on a serve, return, or third shot:

Ben Johns and Collin Johns, Houston Open, Men’s final.

Blunt Force Trauma: 

Doubles finals where: (1) Every rally was fewer than 30 shots, (2) There was fewer than eight shots per rally,  (3) The match had fewer than 1,000 shots overall: 

Mixed Doubles final, Masters. (Waters & Johns def. Bright & Ignatowich)

Women’s final, North Carolina Cup. (Parenteau & Waters def. David & Schneemann)

Fundamentals: 

Players in a Doubles final who did not hit a ball “out” on a serve, return, third shot, or dink. (This happened only three times last year): 

Anna Leigh Waters, North Carolina Cup, Mixed Doubles.

Collin Johns, Houston Open, Men’s Doubles.

Federico Staksrud, Sacramento Open, Men’s Doubles.

Equal Opportunity: 

Federico Staksrud’s five singles titles this year have come in finals against five different players. Better yet, his nine career titles have come in finals against nine different…