
3 things to watch for on Wednesday at MLP St. Petersburg
The Major League Pickleball season continues Wednesday at MLP St. Petersburg, where 11 teams will be in action across five days at St. Pete Athletic.
The first four days feature Group Play before the top 4 teams from each group advance to the Standing Point Matches on Super Sunday, with every match taking place on Championship Court.
Here are the groups for this week’s event:
Group A: Brooklyn Pickleball Team, Chicago Slice, Florida Smash, Los Angeles Mad Drops, Utah Black Diamonds
Group B: Columbus Sliders, Miami Pickleball Club, Orlando Squeeze, Palm Beach Royals, St. Louis Shock, Texas Ranchers
Here is the order of play:
Now, let’s get into what to watch for.
- Tyra Black is set to make her debut for the Columbus Sliders after joining the team via a blockbuster trade earlier this week that also sent Danni-Elle Townsend to the Dallas Flash. She is set to play women’s doubles alongside Parris Todd—with whom she won a PPA Tour title back in 2025—and mixed doubles with CJ Klinger. The Sliders will face the Orlando Squeeze on Thursday as they look to avenge their season-opening loss in what will be the third match of the day.
- The Texas Ranchers are back in action this week after taking third place at their hometown event in Austin over the weekend. They will need to be sharp from the jump as they take on the Palm Beach Royals and St. Louis Shock on Thursday. New acquisition Nico Acevedo has only gotten better as he has gotten used to playing with his new Ranchers teammates, and he will again be the X-factor for a Texas squad that is looking to advance to Super Sunday from a stacked Group B.
- The Chicago Slice are one of two teams (Brooklyn Pickleball Team) to have participated in only one of the first four events, but they will return to action on Thursday when they face the Florida Smash in the first match of the day. The squad featuring Mari Humberg, Hunter Johnson, Jamie Wei, Zane Navratil, Jalina Ingram, and AJ Koller will look to build off a 7th-place finish at their season-opening event in Columbus this week in the Sunshine State.
Action from St. Pete Athletic begins at 11am ET on Pickleballtv.
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