The biggest paddle news out of the Proton Tucson Open was Federico Staksrud’s slow start to his partnership with adidas Pickleball, which saw his streak of 25 straight tournaments with a medal come to an end.

The quieter but equally eyebrow-raising paddle news from that tournament, though, came from the newly unsigned Dylan Frazier, who earned a pair of bronze medals in men’s singles and mixed doubles - with a JOOLA paddle.

Frazier has been representing Selkirk since 2022, but that contract has since ended, leaving him able to play with his paddle of choice. As a free agent in Tucon, Frazier choose to use a JOOLA Magnus 3S.

That change seemed to pay off very quickly for the 23-year-old.

In singles, he defeated No. 2 seed Connor Garnett in a dominant quarterfinal performance before falling to eventual champion Hunter Johnson in the semifinals.

Frazier also went on to beat No. 8 seed Jack Sock—who had beaten him just a few weeks earlier at the Masters—in the bronze medal contest to secure his first singles podium since September.

Mixed doubles was where he was most impressive, however. As the No. 16 seeds, he and Kate Fahey picked up wins over No. 3 seeds Catherine Parenteau/Federico Staksrud, No. 9 seeds Jade Kawamoto/James Ignatowich, and No. 5 seeds Maggie Brascia/JW Johnson en route to Frazier’s fifth career mixed doubles medal and Fahey’s first.

Mixed is considered to be Frazier’s least impressive event (mostly because of how strong he is in singles and gender doubles), but he and Fahey ran through the draw with a string of impressive performances.

Selkirk chose to UPAA certify only a single paddle - the 008 - to start off 2025, forcing all of its signed players to switch to that model for the 2025 Hyundai Masters. Following player backlash, Selkirk submitted more than ten additional paddles to UPAA certification. Most players elected to return to playing with their older models and the 008 has not seen much pro adoption. 

We’ll see if Frazier continues his strong play—and if he continues to use a JOOLA—at next week’s Carvana Mesa Cup, where he is set to play singles, mixed doubles with Fahey, and men’s doubles with Pablo Tellez.