New Jersey took the crown at MLP Columbus, the second event of the MLP season. New Jersey defeated St. Louis in the final, with the hometown Columbus Sliders taking home third place. We now have had 18 of the 20 MLP teams see action, and have some idea of the true strength of the teams. Let’s see if we can separate fact from fiction and reach some conclusions about where things stand two events into the season.

 

 

At MLP Dallas, New Jersey finished 4th, finishing second in their pool after losing to Columbus. New Jersey then lost to St. Louis in the 3d place game. At MLP Columbus, New Jersey got revenge, defeating Columbus in pool play and then defeating St. Louis in the first place game. Which was the real New Jersey, the team that finished a disappointing 4th in Dallas or the team that dominated Columbus?

 

What accounted for New Jersey’s better results in Columbus? Put simply, New Jersey played better in Columbus, up and down the lineup. Anna Leigh Waters was very good at Dallas; in Columbus, she was unstoppable. Jorja Johnson was inconsistent in Dallas; in Columbus she played steadily. Noe Khlif was solid at Dallas, and was solid again in Columbus. The biggest change was in Will Howells. At Dallas, Howells was not himself, likely due to the lingering effects of his ankle injury from earlier this year. At Columbus, Howells took off his ankle brace and for the first time looked like his old self. His play in Columbus was definitely elevated and it showed with much better results.

 

New Jersey’s strength is that they have the best women of any team. If the men can play at a very high level, as they did in Columbus, they have the best team. The question at every event will be whether Khlif and Howells will play at a very high level.

 

 

 

St. Louis is now 0 for 2 in winning MLP events, with a 3d place finish at Dallas, and a 2nd place finish at Columbus. But, St. Louis’ losses have been to New Jersey and LA, both championship contenders in their own right. St. Louis has not played to their potential. Hayden Patriquin, in particular, has not played to his very high standards. He has lost games that he normally wins. St. Louis is built a little differently than New Jersey. New Jersey is better on the women’s side, St. Louis is better on the men’s side. In the Columbus final, Patriquin and Gabe Tardio lost to Khlif and Howells; St. Louis has to win that matchup.

 

No need to panic over St. Louis. They are obviously one of the top five championship contenders and they will be in the mix at the end of the season. But to win it all, Patriquin will need to play better.

 

 

 

We all suffer from recency bias when we watch pro pickleball. One good match and we all tend to be convinced that one match is a trend, not a fluke. But sometimes it is more fluke than trend.

 

At MLP Columbus, the Miami Pickleball Club was in action for the first time. On day one, they came out and gave 2025 champion Columbus a scare, losing 3-2 in a DreamBreaker. Nico Acevedo won both of his matches against Columbus and showed a ton of talent. On day two, Miami crushed Atlanta 4-0. In preseason rankings, Atlanta was a borderline playoff team, so the ease with which Miami defeated Atlanta had everyone piling on the Miami bandwagon. But, Miami did not win another match in Columbus and finished last in their pool.

 

Miami was not as good as they showed against Columbus and they were not as bad as the team that lost to California. The truth is that Miami is pretty much who we thought they were at the beginning of the season; a non-playoff team, that is good enough to scare a good team. Acevedo is legit; but, the women are neither good enough nor consistent enough for Miami to be consistently good. Acevedo and Yuta Funemizu can beat anyone at men’s doubles. But the other three doubles teams are ok at best and Miami has one of the weakest DreamBreaker squads of any team. With DreamBreakers being more important in 2026 than in any prior year, the singles weakness of Miami will hold them back. Miami will win some matches and will score an upset or two along the way, but they likely are not a playoff team in 2026.

 

 

 

Prior to the start of the 2026 season, I said in my preseason preview that there were five teams that could legitimately win the 2026 MLP championship; New Jersey, St. Louis, LA, Columbus, and Brooklyn. We have not yet seen Brooklyn in action, but they have a very solid lineup top to bottom. The other four have been in action, and those matches confirm they are all capable of winning it all.

 

Every team has shown some strengths and some (relative) weaknesses. Interestingly, for New Jersey, Columbus, and St. Louis, their issues have all primarily been on the men’s side. For LA, the questions are whether Ben Johns will play at a super high level all year, and whether their women will fade some as the year goes on, as happened in 2025. For Brooklyn, they have not played yet, so their question is whether they can turn the potential of the roster into results.

 

But in the end, these five teams are the best teams and one of them is going to win it all in 2026. Which one remains to be seen.

 

 

 

One of the best things to see as a fan is how new players perform under the bright lights. Playing UPA events, whether PPA or MLP, is to play at the very top of the pickleball world. Many try, but not all succeed. Three of the newest players are Danni-Elle Townsend, Sahra Dennehy, and Sofia Sewing. Townsend and Dennehy played a couple of PPAs before MLP started, but it remained to be seen how they would do under the pressure of team competition. This was particularly true for Townsend, who had the added pressure of coming to a championship Columbus team. For Sewing, her MLP debut was also her UPA debut.

 

How did they do? They did well, each proving they belong in MLP and are likely to be solid PPA players for years to come. Townsend, Dennehy, and Sewing are all legitimately top 20 players. Townsend is good enough to keep Columbus among the five championship contenders: Dennehy is on a bad California team, but expect them to improve as the season goes on; and Sewing is a solid addition to the new Palm Beach team that should easily make the playoffs.

 

 

Next up is MLP St. Louis. The matches begin Thursday, June 4. All the matches will be on Pickleballtv.

 

Follow me on X @pickleball_jim for updates and inside information on all the players and matches.