The Las Vegas Convention Center hosted the Walgreens Open and the big news was the gold medal victory by Jorja Johnson and Tyra Black in women’s doubles. They took down the previously undefeated pair of Anna Leigh Waters and Anna Bright in the semifinal and capped it off with a dominating win in the final over Catherine Parenteau and Parris Todd. While that was, deservedly, the big story of the Walgreens Open, it was not the only story.

 

 

One major story in pro pickleball this year was the amazing performance of Andrei Daescu in the MLP Playoffs. He played about as close to perfect pickleball as you can play in leading Columbus to the title. In Las Vegas, there was a lot of talk about whether Daescu had caught up to Johns as the #1 player in the world. In talking to other pros, I was surprised by the number of people who did indeed think Daescu was currently the best player. For myself, while I think the gap among the top five has narrowed, I still hold the view that when he puts his mind to it, Ben Johns is the best.

 

In Las Vegas, #1 seed Johns and Gabe Tardio easily sailed into the final. They won the eight games leading up to the final by an average score of 11-3. On the other side of the draw, #3 seed Daecsu and Christian Alshon also did not lose a game leading up to the final. But Daescu and Alshon were tested by #2 seed Federico Staksrud and Hayden Patriquin in the semifinal. Staksrud and Patriquin led 10-2 in game one, but Daescu and Alshon ripped off 10 straight points to rally back, and then cruised on game two, teeing up the showdown against Johns and Tardio.

 

 

I viewed the final as similar to the big college football game of Ohio State against Texas. The winner gets the bragging rights of, at least for now, being the best team in the country, but all subject to change the next time they take the field. If Daescu was able to win, I would give him the title of #1, at least until the next time they played. 

 

If Johns has a flaw, it is that he can be inconsistent in his effort. However, there was no doubt that he was going to give max effort in the Las Vegas final. Daescu and Alshon took a close game one 12-10, and Johns and Tardio won game two by that same 12-10 score. But after that, Johns and Tardio dominated the last two games, 11-3, 11-2, winning the gold.

 

 

So, at least for now, Johns keeps the crown as the #1 player. But the gap has narrowed. Every tournament will be a continued test of who is the best player. Daescu will surely have something to say about it. Stay tuned!

 

 

At every PPA event, the first day is the qualifier events. These tend to not be attended by many fans, but they are missing a treat. The qualifier events are not only filled with highly skilled players, but also that is where you can see the young and up and coming players. Pickleball is not played the same today as it was even a few years ago, and watching the new/young players is a great way to spot trends. You can then see those same trends play out when you watch the early rounds of the main events.

 

I noticed three things that really stood out when you watch the players who are newer to pro pickleball. First, power is here to stay as a dominant style. The third shot drop used to be regarded as the most important shot in pickleball and was endlessly discussed. Today, third shot drives dominate. Not only third shot drives, but fifth shot drives, power shots from mid-court, and speedups off the bounce occur with far more frequency than ever before. Serves are also more powerful. In singles, the serve return has become extremely important, as a weak serve return is a shot that quickly loses rallies.

 

Second, the western and semi-western grip is taking over the game, although not as quickly as power has predominated. Players used to be fairly uniform in using a continental grip, as it is the most versatile, able to play both from the baseline and the kitchen line. Players who did not use a continental grip notably stood out, such as Riley Newman. But, now far more players are moving their hand under the grip, rotating to more of a western grip so that they can whip powerful forehands with topspin. When I see top juniors play, the western and semi-western grips dominate, so in a few years, those with a continental grip may stand out.

 

Third, the two-hand backhand has now officially taken over pickleball. What was once an oddity has almost become a mandatory shot. Newer players all incorporate the twoey in their games. Veteran players have almost all changed from exclusively using a one-handed backhand to now using the twoey for at least some dinks and defensive blocks.  Long time one-hand backhand players such as Federico Staksrud, Andrei Daescu and Tyra Black all will now switch to the twoey for at least some shots. It is quickly becoming unusual to see a player who hits 100% one-hand backhand shots.

 

 

One fun thing to do in pickleball is to hit the ball really hard. Who doesn’t enjoy smacking a high forehand for a winner? In watching pro pickleball, the power hitters stand out and fans (including me) often flock to watch the hardest hitters.

 

In Las Vegas, I wanted to watch a first round men’s doubles match where Alex Crum and Juan Benitez were playing, as Crum had beaten Federico Staksrud in singles, employing some of the hardest serves and groundstrokes I had ever seen on a pickleball court. I wanted to see how Crum would do at doubles. They were playing against the veteran duo of Altaf Merchant and Steve Deakin, who play more of an old school style, emphasizing dinking and intelligent placement of the ball. The contrast was striking.

 

Crum and Benitez came out firing with very hard serves, powerful drives, and a lot of shake and bake winners. Merchant and Deakin were on their heels and game one went fast, 11-2. To those of us watching, we figured game two would be no different and Merchant and Deakin would have to lick their wounds and move back to Senior Doubles play. But something changed for game two. Merchant and Deakin softened the play, strategically dropping and dinking and going “old school” with a lot of cut dinks to the backhands of Crum and Benitez. The points Merchant and Deakin won were not flashy; a lot of forced errors and well-placed speedups when a ball was left high. Crum and Benitez continued to win the flashy points, with huge serves and powerful poaches, but the well-placed shots of Merchant and Deakin just slowly added up to victory. Merchant and Deakin won the next two games 11-5, 11-6, and for at least one day and one match, old school won. It was a good reminder that while power in pickleball has its uses, placement is still king.

 

 

The big story from Las Vegas was of course the gold medal victory by Jorja Johnson and Tyra Black. When the Waters/Bright partnership was announced, I predicted Waters and Bright would go undefeated in 2025. That prediction is now in ashes, but I also said that if anyone was going to beat them, it would be a Johnson/Black combo. Early on, Waters and Bright were steamrolling everyone, but did play some closer and more exciting matches against their ex-partners, Rachel Rohrabacher and Catherine Parenteau. Some fans thought that was a new rivalry that would go back and forth. While those matches were entertaining, I maintained that Rohrabacher and Parenteau had little to no chance to beat Waters and Bright, while Johnson and Black could do it.

 

 

The reason is styles. To beat Waters and Bright, the most important thing you have to do is to counter well and powerfully. Johnson and Black are the best at strong counters, off both forehand and backhand. Rohrabacher and Parenteau, conversely, cannot counter powerfully off both sides and thus Waters/Bright is a tough matchup for them.

 

I will be doing a separate column breaking down the big upset by Johnson and Black. Look for that in the next few days.

 

The PPA tour will take a week off. Next up is the Veolia Cincinnati Showcase presented by Six Zero. That will start Monday, September 8. All the action will be on Pickleballtv.

 

Follow me on X @pickleball_jim.