The Major League Pickleball season continues this week at MLP New York, where six Premier level teams and all six Challenger level teams will be in action across four days at Sportime Randall’s Island.

This is the seventh of ten regular season events, and the second of six consecutive weeks with MLP competition. Each team will play 25 matches during the regular season before the top 10 Premier level teams and all six Challenger level teams advance to the playoffs.

Here is the order of play for the six matches scheduled for Thursday:

Now, let’s get into what to watch for.

• After being dropped by the Carolina Hogs in one of the biggest moves of the season, Collin Johns will make his return to MLP this week as a substitute for the Challenger level’s Bay Area Breakers (3-7, 9pts). Bay Area traded Eric Roddy to the Atlanta Bouncers in exchange for Sam Querrey on Tuesday, but the former tennis star Querrey is out of the country commentating at Wimbledon. The Breakers certainly won’t complain, as Johns is certainly an upgrade from Querrey on the pickleball court. He will play men’s doubles with DJ Young and mixed doubles with Angie Walker as Bay Area takes on the Las Vegas Night Owls (9-1, 26pts) on Thursday.

• Let’s move to Johns’ former team, the Carolina Hogs (2-12, 7pts). Carolina has a new look after executing a blockbuster trade where they sent Kaitlyn Christian and cash to the Texas Ranchers in exchange for Etta Tuionetoa. Tuionetoa and Ben Johns—who won two PPA titles together in 2024—will team up in mixed doubles, while Tuionetoa will join forces with Tammy Emmrich in women’s doubles. Johns will play with Roscoe Bellamy in men’s doubles as the last-place Hogs look to put an abysmal start to the season behind them and attempt to make a push for the postseason. Carolina will face the New York Hustlers on Thursday.

• Helena Jansen Fink will make her debut for the New York Hustlers (3-10, 8pts) after being acquired in a trade with the Texas Ranchers (for Felicity Di Laura) right after Waiver Period #2. The Appalachian State tennis product will play women’s doubles with Dominique Schaefer and mixed doubles with Donald Young as the Hustlers begin their busy weekend with matches against the Columbus Sliders (10-5, 30pts) and Carolina Hogs.

• Finally, Yuta Funemizu will make his MLP debut for the Miami Pickleball Club (6-9, 16pts) with Jay Devilliers out. Funemizu, a soft tennis world champion out of Japan, should come into this week’s event with plenty of confidence after taking men’s doubles gold with John Lucian Goins at the PPA Flower City Challenger over the weekend. He will play men’s doubles with Noe Khlif and mixed doubles with Mya Bui for Miami’s contest against the Orlando Squeeze (10-5, 28pts).

Grandstand Court action begins at 1:30pm ET, while Championship Court matches will start at 2pm ET on Pickleballtv.