Following a break for the Fourth of July, MLP gets back in action starting Wednesday with the Mid-Season Tournament. All 20 MLP teams will be in attendance, with an additional four teams entered made up of international and college players. The top three finishers get some key standings points that could decide the top overall seed for the playoffs. But most importantly, bragging rights and momentum will be on the line.

 

 

The Mid-Season Tournament will have a traditional 24-team double elimination bracket. Any team losing a match will go to a consolation bracket, with the winner of the consolation bracket finishing third overall. Six standings points are given to the tournament winner, four for second place, and two for third place.

 

Sixteen teams will play on the first day, July 8. The top eight teams are seeded and will start on July 9, taking on the eight winners from day one. The top three seeds are New Jersey, St. Louis, and LA. The finals will be held on July 12.

 

 

 

In addition to the 20 MLP teams we are used to, four teams were added to make the 24-team bracket. Those four new teams are Team Australia, Team Canada, Team Europe, and the College All-Stars. Can any of these additional teams score a major upset and defeat one of the 20 pro teams? It will be a tough task for the four teams in round one, as they play the four best MLP teams playing in round one. I doubt we will see an upset in round one, but an upset in the consolation bracket is a possibility.

 

The #16 California vs. #17 Miami match and the #15 Florida vs. #18 Bay Area match should both be close battles. Miami will sport a new look, especially on the men’s side, with Dylan Frazier, Yuta Funemizu, and Zane Ford. Frazier will be the best player on the court in that match, so look for a very mild upset by #17 Miami over #16 California. The Florida vs. Bay Area match is a toss-up. Florida has slightly exceeded the very low preseason expectations for this team, largely due to their women. The Florida men are among the lowest rated players in MLP, but Martina Frantova and Paula Rives have done better than expected. The Florida leader has been Zoey Weil, as predicted preseason. The Bay Area men will have a decided advantage over the Florida men, so it will be an interesting match of contrasting strengths.

 

 

 

In round two, the eight first round winners will take on the top eight seeds. There is little room to see much in the way of a round two upset. The one possibility is #11 Orlando taking on #6 Palm Beach. Orlando has a solid lineup, and Palm Beach has received very inconsistent play on the men’s side due to injuries. Orlando has Federico Staksrud and Jack Sock, a combination that is capable of playing with anyone when they play well. Palm Beach has been carried by their women’s duo of Tina Pisnik and Sofia Sewing. That match has the look of one that will go to a DreamBreaker and Orlando has some strong singles players. If a top eight seed gets knocked off early, look for it to be Palm Beach.

 

The other seven second round matches look to be easy victories for the top seeds. #8 Dallas is the lowest of the top seeds, and they have played some bad matches at times, but they looked to be improving at their last event. They should be able to handle their expected opponent, Las Vegas.

 

 

Things will start to get interesting from the quarterfinals on. In the quarterfinals, the expected matchups are New Jersey vs. Dallas, Brooklyn vs. Columbus, St. Louis vs. Texas, and LA vs. Palm Beach (or Orlando). As we saw from MLP New York, an upset of a top team is possible, with Texas winning a pool play match over New Jersey.

 

The Brooklyn vs. Columbus match is the obvious highlight. They are almost certainly locked into the #4 and #5 seeds for the end-of-year playoffs, so this meeting in the Mid-Season Tournament is a good preview of that very likely playoff showdown. One big question will be the health of both teams. Rachel Rohrabacher is coming off an injury suffered at MLP New York, while Tyra Black for Columbus has had ongoing health issues in 2026. Hopefully, both teams will be at full strength for what should be the best match of the quarterfinals.

 

I would expect New Jersey, St. Louis, and LA to move on. St. Louis probably has the toughest match of the three, against Texas. Texas has a high ceiling with Eric Oncins and Nico Acevedo leading the way. But, you have to like New Jersey, St. Louis, and LA to all make the seminfinals.

 

In the semis, New Jersey would play the Brooklyn/Columbus winner and St. Louis would take on LA. St. Louis waxed LA the last time they played. Hayden Patriquin and Gabe Tardio picked on Max Freeman, and there is every likelihood that will happen again in this tournament. Why LA has not explored a trade to shore up their lineup is a continuing mystery. Max Freeman and cash for Dylan Frazier still appears to be an obvious trade. I do not understand the lack of respect for Frazier; he is ranked #10 in PPA men’s doubles (Freeman is #30) and he is playing well in MLP, albeit on bad teams. Perhaps if St. Louis easily beats LA again, the LA management will see the need for a trade rather than accepting a team with low chances to win it all.

 

Both Brooklyn and Columbus have deep rosters when fully healthy. Either could upset New Jersey. New Jersey has an “automatic” win in women’s doubles with Anna Leigh Waters and Jorja Johnson. But which version of Noe Khlif and Will Howells will show up? Khlif and Howells have solid wins and bad losses this year; if they play well, New Jersey has the best team.

 

The two best teams in our preseason predictions were New Jersey and St. Louis. Nothing has changed. Expect an epic showdown between them in the finals, both in the Mid-Season Tournament and the end-of-year playoffs.

 

All matches will be on Pickleballtv.

 

Follow me on X @pickleball_jim for updates.