Ben Johns/Collin Johns ended their partnership in the only way that seems appropriate for the most dominant men’s doubles team in pickleball history: with a gold medal.

The top seeds cruised to an 11-5 12-10, 11-3 victory over No. 2 seeds Federico Staksrud/Hayden Patriquin to secure their 35^th PPA title as a pairing.

Sunday’s bout was a rematch of the final from the Virginia Beach Cup back in October, which Staksrud/Patriquin took in five games.

The brothers were determined to turn the tide at the first slam of the new year.

One of the key components of their strategy was neutralizing the offensive capability of Patriquin, who is known to be an aggressive right-side player with hard counters and precise speedups off the bounce.

Ben did this by really only getting into crosscourt dink rallies with Staksrud on the left side, and he usually didn’t go up the line at Patriquin unless he was on the attack.

“We didn’t really grind crosscourt with Hayden a lot, but we did want to put the ball in his corner to keep him out of the middle,” he explained. “It’s easier for me to do that off a redirect from Federico than it is just to grind with Hayden because of how tricky he is off the bounce with the forehand. We didn’t really love the idea of letting him attack off the bounce and dictating there, but we did like the idea of going to Hayden as more of an offensive shot than a grinding, neutral shot.”

News broke in December that the Johns brothers would be splitting up for 2025 and playing with new partners. Ben has said that he will play with the talented 19-year-old Gabe Tardio at several events this year.

Even with no tournaments scheduled with his brother for the rest of this year, Collin is looking forward to what lies ahead.

“I don’t really think I felt the weight of the moment until the match finished, but it does feel a little different now that it’s all over,” he shared. “It’s definitely a good feeling.”

Staksrud, who fell to Ben earlier in the day in the mixed doubles final, applauded the victors for their sustained success together at the top of the sport.

“I don’t think this is their last tournament, honestly. But if it is, it’s been amazing to compete against [Ben and Collin],” he said. “They always have really good sportsmanship and really good values, so it’s been amazing.”

No. 6 seeds Christian Alshon/Andrei Daescu secured the bronze medal with a 9-11, 11-9, 11-5 victory over No. 8 seeds Augie Ge/Jaume Martinez Vich.