DALLAS, TX - The D.C. Pickleball Team had one of the best performances at last week’s MLP Mid-Season Tournament, coming up just a few points short of taking the title against the New Jersey 5s in a DreamBreaker.

The whole squad performed admirably, but no one at the Premier level had a better tournament than D.C.’s Dekel Bar.

Bar finished on top of the individual player standings by winning an impressive 56% of his points.

That showing, despite how impressive it was, really shouldn’t come as a surprise in the context of Bar’s performance at PPA events over the past few months.

Put simply, he’s been one of the most consistent doubles medalists on tour since April.

Let’s break down the big man’s recent results.

In his last seven tournaments, the former Israeli tennis pro has earned eight medals—three silver and five bronze.

Six of those medals have come from men’s doubles, and all six of those have come in his last six tournaments.

That type of consistency has become increasingly difficult to come by in 2024, with parity seemingly on the rise at every level of the pro game. It’s that much more impressive, then, that Bar has earned those six consecutive medals playing alongside three different men’s doubles partners: Thomas Wilson, Matt Wright, and Tyson McGuffin.

He says a crucial component of replicating success with different partners is communication.

“It’s definitely tricky playing with new partners. Getting some games prior to the tournament is important and helpful, although it’s not always possible,” Bar explained. “Communicating on and off the court even more than with your usual partner is key. It helps accelerate the acclimation process and gets you and your partner to be more ready for what each other is going to do and helps establish what each person’s roles are. Being a positive and energetic partner is also important and helps your partner feel better on court. I’ve been lucky to have had great partners who were very supportive and playing at a very high level.”

Bar has had the most consistent success in men’s doubles with McGuffin, who has been his primary partner for most of the year. In fact, he and McGuffin have hit the podium in the last four tournaments they have played in together.

“Tyson is a very positive partner that can elevate the level of whoever he’s playing with, which is a great quality to have,” Bar shared. “We also both fight hard and have won a lot of close matches. In a lot of our deep runs, we needed to come back from a large deficit at some point, so both of us staying engaged and fighting with a lot of energy until the end has definitely paid dividends.”

The pair’s resilience was on full display at the most recent PPA Tour stop in San Clemente, where they dropped the first game of their quarterfinal match against James Ignatowich and Tyler Loong before rallying to advance in three games.

In mixed doubles, Bar has had the most success with Tina Pisnik. Their two silver medals together came in April, and Bar most appreciates Pisnik's intentionality with analyzing match performance.

“Tina is a beast,” he mentioned. “She always fights hard and is just a great partner. We talk a lot before and after matches on what we did well and how we can improve as a team. All of that has helped us make some deep runs.”

We can’t talk about Bar’s success without mentioning the role that his partners have played, sure, but there’s no denying that his name is the common denominator uniting those eight recent medals.

That truth gives Bar plenty of confidence going into the second half of the season.

“It means a lot to me to be able to consistently show that I belong in the top of the sport,” he said. “It gives me a lot of confidence going forward and validates how I have been feeling about my game. I am happy with my results over the past few months but am definitely hungry for more and am always looking to get better.”

Bar will next be in action at MLP Kansas City running August 3-5. His next PPA event will be the IHG Hotels and Resorts Bristol Open, where he’s set to compete alongside Pisnik and Hayden Patriquin.