The 2025 PPA Tour is set to begin with The Zimmer Biomet Masters powered by Invited. This first tournament of the new year will begin Monday from Mission Hills Country Club in Rancho Mirage, CA. It will be a progressive draw. The weather is expected to be in the 70s, so it should be a great tournament. It’s The Masters, every player will be all in white, so it will have that special feel.

 

 

 

The top seed is the team of Catherine Parenteau/Anna Leigh Waters, and the second seed is Anna Bright/Rachel Rohrabacher. Everyone will be interested in seeing a rematch in the final of the best rivalry in pro pickleball. Will it happen, or will another team spoil that party?

 

The challenge will have to come from a new partnership. We have a lot of interesting ones in this tournament. At #3 is Jorja Johnson/Tyra Black. Johnson has been playing very well, and she will pair well with Black, who is better on the left. They should do well together, but their draw is not an easy one.

 

The #4 seed goes to Lacy Schneemann/Meghan Dizon. They snagged a very favorable draw, but I do not see them as a strong pairing. At #5 is Callie Smith/Parris Todd; #6 is Lea Jansen/Lucy Kovalova; #7 is Allyce Jones/Jessie Irvine; and, at #8 is Tina Pisnik/Kate Fahey. Of those new partnerships, I think Pisnik/Fahey has the most potential, but they also got the toughest draw, including a likely round of 16 match against #11 Brooke Buckner/Zoey Wang. I am looking for Fahey to break out in 2025 in doubles. She has her first chance here with Pisnik.

 

 

The band is back together one more time at #1 with Ben Johns and Collin Johns. They will be tested early and often, as the men’s draw is very deep. There are no easy draws or easy matches. The Johns brothers could face #14 Donald Young/Travis Rettenmaier in the round of 16; I am looking for Young to take a big step forward in 2025, and Rettenmaier has been playing solidly. Put me down for a big upset there, if Young/Rettenmaier can get that far.

 

The #2 seed goes to Hayden Patriquin/Federico Staksrud. No one played better at the end of 2024. Will they continue the roll in 2025? My vote is yes. At #3, we start to see the new partnerships of 2025. Dylan Frazier/Pablo Tellez get the #3 seed, but I do not see this partnership working at a high level. Tellez is super versatile, but Frazier has not played nearly as well on the left as the right. In the round of 16, they will likely face #13 Julian Arnold/Hunter Johnson. Johnson is one of my breakout players of 2025, and I will pick the upset there.

 

The #4 seed is JW Johnson/Gabe Tardio. They were everyone’s pick to be the most successful new partnership until Ben Johns made his announcement that he and Tardio would be partnering up for the majority of 2025. We'll see how that news affects the Johnson/Tardio chemistry this week. The #5 seed goes to the ever steady team of Tyson/McGuffin/Dekel Bar. They will be a tough out. At #6 is Christian Alshon/Andrei Daescu. This is a super interesting pairing. Their size alone will be intimidating. Daescu closed 2024 playing as well as anyone, and Alshon when healthy is a top 5 player. 

 

The seven seed goes to Matt Wright/Quang Duong; not only is this an interesting pairing, but they are likely to play #10 James Ignatowich/CJ Klinger in the round of 16. Wright/Ignatowich closed 2024 on a bad note, getting double pickled by McGuffin/Daescu at the PPA Finals. Did that spell the end of the Wright/Ignatowich partnership? Will some emotions from that carry over if these teams meet in the round of 16? Keep an eye out for that potential match.

 

 

Ben Johns and Anna Leigh Waters take the top seed, and have a relatively easy draw. They will be tough to beat. The second seed goes to JW and Jorja Johnson. They played well in 2024, and will look to give over the hump to gold in 2025. But, they have a difficult draw, that likely includes a round of 16 match against #21 Kate Fahey/Connor Garnett. Again, I am looking for Fahey to take some big steps up in doubles in 2025. Obviously, this would be a tough test.

 

The #3 seed goes to Anna Bright/Hayden Patriquin. As MLP teammates, they should pair well together. Their biggest problem is they are on the same side of the draw as Johns/Waters. Interestingly, Federico Staskrud has not teamed with Rachel Rohrabacher, but instead with Catherine Parenteau. I had predicted Staksrud would move on from Rohrabacher, as they just did not have the results you would expect from two players of their talent. I expect Staksrud to do better with Parenteau. Rohrabacher, for her part, gets to play with James Ignatowich at the #5 seed. I do not expect that pair to do much.

 

The mixed draw is deep. A couple of expected round of 16 matches shows the depth. The #8 seed of Gabe Tardio/Jessie Irvine is expected to face #19 Pablo Tellez/Zoey Wang; in another expected round of 16 match, we could see #6 Dekel Bar/Tina Pisnik play #9 Lea Jansen/Andrei Daescu. I really like the Jansen/Daescu pair, but Bar/Pisnik are super steady. If they do face each other, that is must see pickleball.

 

 

The top seed is, of course, Anna Leigh Waters. But she will really have to earn the gold medal in this one. Such good players as #3 Lea Jansen, #6 Kate Fahey, and #9 Zoey Wang are all on her side of the draw. Fortunately for Waters, Fahey and Wang look to play each other in what would be a great round of 16 match.

 

The #2 seed goes to Brooke Buckner. She will be tested early with a likely round of 16 match against #15 Genie Bouchard. One of my 2025 predictions is that Bouchard will be a top 10 singles player. Playing Buckner will be a good test. The #4 seed is Catherine Parenteau, and at #5 is Kaitlyn Christian. Parenteau has not been playing all that well at singles, but she benefits from a good draw in this tournament. Christian has been playing very well at singles but has the tougher draw.

 

 

Ben Johns sits this one out, and Federico Staksrud gets the top seed. As a prize for the top seed, Staksrud has been give a brutal draw. Assuming no upsets, Staksrud will face #25 Gabe Tardio, #16 Rafa Hewett, #8 Christian Alshon, and #3 Hunter Johnson, just to get to the final. The men’s singles draw is super deep, but that draw is especially difficult. Staksrud has shown he is quite capable, even against such a tough draw.

 

The #2 seed goes to Connor Garnett. At #4 is Quang Duong who, relatively speaking, received a good draw. An early round of 16 match demonstrating the depth of the men’s singles draw is the expected match of #7 Jaume Martinez Vich against #10 Michael Loyd. Either of those players is quite capable of medaling but one will go home in the round of 16.

 

 

Every tournament seems to get more and more difficult to pick who will make the finals. Men’s doubles is the most difficult, as at least 10 teams are capable of winning it all. But, let’s give it a best shot.

 

Women’s doubles: Catherine Parenteau/Anna Leigh Waters over Anna Bright/Rachel Rohrabacher. It’s the match we all want to see again.

Men’s doubles: Federico Staksrud/Hayden Patriquin over Andrei Daescu/Christian Alshon

Mixed doubles: Anna Leigh Waters/Ben Johns over Federico Staksrud/Catherine Parenteau

Women’s singles: Anna Leigh Waters over Genie Bouchard

Men’s singles: Hunter Johnson over Quang Doung

Upset special: Donald Young/Travis Rettenmaier over Ben and Collin Johns

 

Hope to see you there in person at this great event. If you cannot be there in person, catch all the action on Pickleballtv.

 

Follow me on Twitter/X @pickleball_jim.