professional pickleball federico stakstrud

Major Upsets (& more of the same) In Professional Pickleball

If you missed out on the pickleball action this weekend in Arizona, we will catch you up to speed… The PPA (Professional Pickleball Association) hosted a tournament at the JW Marriott Phoenix Desert Ridge Resort & Spa in Phoenix, Arizona.

Related: What Pickleball Paddle Do The Best Players In The World Use?

The tournament started on Wednesday with professional qualifiers… and wrapped with Championship Sunday. It was one of the best week’s of pickleball I’ve seen in a long time with upsets, big comebacks, and multiple ESPN Top Ten plays!

Before we get into the results… I have to share the two points that made it on ESPN Top Plays.

Pickleball Points Featured On Sportscenter Top Ten

@thekitchenpickleball

The shot difficulty level here is OFF THE F’ING CHARTS! 📈 @Carvana PPA Tour #pickleball #pickleballplayers #pickleballhighlights #pickleballtiktok #pickleballpro #pickleballcourt #pickleballaddiction #pickleballislife #highlights #foryou #thekitchen

♬ original sound – The Kitchen Pickleball
James Ignatowich in mixed doubles
@thekitchenpickleball

If someone ever asks “is singles pickleball hard?” just send them this. I’m exhausted watching… 😮‍💨 @Carvana PPA Tour #pickleball #pickleballplayers #pickleballtiktok #pickleballhighlights #pickleballpro #pickleballcourt #pickleballaddiction #pickleballislife #highlights #foryou #thekitchen

♬ original sound – The Kitchen Pickleball
Federico Stakstrud in men’s singles

Men’s Doubles – Professional Pickleball Results

If you follow pro pickleball, you would probably guess Ben Johns & Collin Johns won it all… You would be right once again. 

The Johns Bros only dropped one game all weekend and they finished with a clean 3-0 sweep in the finals against Tyson McGuffin and Dekel Bar.

Another notable performance in men’s doubles was the #12 seed, Zane Navratil and Erik Lange… they beat the #8 seed Hayden Patriquin / Callan Dawson, then #2 seed Thomas Wilson / Riley Newman, and finished the weekend with a bronze medal beating #6 Seed Julian Arnold / Christian Alshon.

Here are the final results for men’s doubles:

Gold: Ben Johns / Collin Johns

Silver: Dekel Bar / Tyson McGuffin

Bronze: Erik Lange / Zane Navratil

4: Julian Arnold / Christian Alshon

5: Thomas Wilson / Riley Newman

6: Pablo Tellez / Federico Staksrud

7: Matt Wright / James Ignatowich

8: Jay Devilliers / Ben Newell

9: Carson Klinger / Jaume Martinez Vich

10: Daniel De La Rosa / Martin Emmrich

Mixed Doubles – Professional Pickleball Results

Ok… mixed was actually insane this week! Usually no one even comes close to Ben Johns and Anna Leigh Waters. This weekend was different.

Etta Wright & Pablo Tellez, the #17 seed, had multiple chances to upset the #1 seed of Ben Johns and Anna Leigh Waters in the Round Of 16… The final was 11-3, 7-11, 14-12

After squeaking out a nail biter, Ben and Anna Leigh also had a close call in the quarterfinals against Chrisian Alshon / Catherine Parenteau. The final here was 13-11, 8-11, 11-6.

Back to back teams forced Ben and Anna Leigh to 3 games… I don’t think this has ever been done. 

Ben and Anna Leigh were challenged but stood up to it and walked away with another gold medal.

The most notable performance this weekend in mixed doubles was from the #21 seed: Hurricane Tyra Black / Augustus Ge.

As the #21 seed, Black and Ge took down #16 seed Jack Munro / Lea Jansen, #4 seed Jackie Kawamoto / Riley Newman, and #7 seed Matt Wright / Lucia Kovalova before falling to Ben and Anna Leigh in the semi finals.

Here are the final results for mixed doubles:

Gold: Anna Leigh Waters / Ben Johns

Silver: Anna Bright / James Ignatowich

Bronze: Thomas Wilson / Vivienne David

4: Hurricane Tyra Black / Augustus Ge

5: Allyce Jones / Connor Garnett

6: Matt Wright / Lucia Kovalova

7: Catherine Parenteau / Christian Alshon

8: Zane Navratil / Andrea Koop

9: Marietta Wright / Pablo Tellez

10: Brooke Buckner / Collin Johns

Women’s Doubles – Professional Pickleball Results

Anna Leigh Waters and Catherine Parenteau secured their 60th consecutive win and another gold medal. They haven’t lost a match in 8 straight tournaments… insane!

Nothing too crazy happened in the women’s doubles bracket with the top 4 teams reaching the semi finals.

The closest call to an upset was #1 seed Anna Leigh Waters / Catherine Parenteau with a big comeback (down 1-7 in game 3) against #7 seed Jackie Kawamoto / Jade Kawamoto.

Here are the final results for women’s doubles:

Gold: Anna Leigh Waters / Catherine Parenteau

Silver: Meghan Dizon / Marietta Wright

Bronze: Anna Bright / Rachel Rohrabacher

4: Lucia Kovalova / Callie Smith

5: Lacy Schneemann / Vivienne David

6: Jackie Kawamoto / Jade Kawamoto

7: Lauren Stratman / Allyce Jones

8: Andrea Koop / Tina Pisnik

9: Courtney McIntosh / Camila Garcia Wright

10: Susannah Barr / Lea Jansen

Men’s Singles – Professional Pickleball Results

The men’s singles bracket is sooo deep these days that upsets are bound to happen more regularly…

#1 seed Ben Johns got knocked out in the Quarterfinals by #8 seed Jaume Martinez Vich… Vich ended up advancing all the way to Championship Sunday before falling to #2 seed Federico Stakstud.

#4 seed Connor Garnet got knocked out in the Round Of 16 by #14 seed Christopher Haworth.

#7 seed Pablo Tellez got knocked out in the Round Of 16 by #11 seed Aanik Lohani.

Here are the final results for men’s singles:

Gold: Federico Staksrud 

Silver: Jaume Martinez Vich 

Bronze: Jay Devilliers 

4: Tyson McGuffin 

5: Benjamin Johns

6: Christian Alshon 

7: Aanik Lohani 

8: Christopher Haworth 

9: Marshall Brown 

10: Marcel Chan 

Women’s Singles – Professional Pickleball Results

Anna Leigh Waters, just like in women’s doubles and mixed doubles, owns women’s singles.

Everyone is waiting for the day for someone to consistently challenge her… but that time is not here yet.

ALW took gold in women’s singles which completed another triple crown. 

There were a couple new women that made a name for themselves this weekend… most notably: Kaitlyn Christian.

Kaitlyn Christian won her Round of 64 play in game. She then took down #4 seed Salome Devidze and #6 seed Brooke Buckner before losing to Anna Leigh Waters in the semi finals. 

Kaitlyn Christian then took down #2 seed Lea Jansen to take home the bronze medal.

Here are the final results for women’s singles:

Gold: Anna Leigh Waters

Silver: Mary Brascia

Bronze: Kaitlyn Christian

4: Lea Jansen 

5: Nicole Eugenio 

6: Liz Truluck

7: Brooke Buckner

8: Lina Padegimaite 

9: Rachael James 

10: Courtney McIntosh 

Pro Pickleball Mesa Arizona Cup

If you want to see the top pros in action, check out the full PPA Tour schedule here.

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