LIVE BLOG: The latest news and updates from MLP Orlando
The 2025 Major League Pickleball season kicks off this week at MLP Orlando, where all 16 Premier teams will be in action across four days at the USTA National Campus.
This is the first of ten regular season events that will take place between April and August, and each team will play a total of 25 matches during the regular season before the playoffs.
Broadcast coverage will be available on the Pickleballtv app, which is available for download in the Apple and Android app stores, starting at 11 ET.
Stay tuned for live updates throughout the day.
5:40pm ET: Sliders top Hogs in regulation for first win of 2025
The Columbus Sliders entered the winner’s circle for the first time this season with a 3-1 victory over the Carolina Hogs.
The pairings of Lea Jansen/Parris Todd and Andrei Daescu/CJ Klinger gave Columbus a 2-0 advantage with victories in gender doubles.
Carolina got on the board with a win from Tamaryn Emmrich/Ben Johns in the first mixed doubles match, but Jansen/Klinger went on to take the second mixed bout over Kaitlyn Christian/Collin Johns to close out the contest in regulation.
Coming into Friday afternoon’s contest, Columbus had had about as tough a start to the season that a team could ask for. They played the New Jersey 5s (2024 runners-up) on Thursday and the Dallas Flash (2024 champions) on Friday morning.
Jansen spoke about the satisfaction that comes with getting the first win out of the way.
“It’s nice to get in the win column,” she said. “We all just started playing together, so it was really tough coming out against two very seasoned teams who have played together for pretty much a whole year already. We used that as a learning experience, but it’s only up from here.”
Both teams will be in action on Saturday at the USTA National Campus, with the Sliders set to face the Texas Ranchers and the Hogs scheduled to take on the Dallas Flash.
5:20pm ET: Phoenix Flames v. Orlando Squeeze: Starting lineups and matchups released
The Phoenix Flames will face the Orlando Squeeze in Friday's final match on Toray Championship Court.
This will be the Flames' first match of the season, while the Squeeze will look to build on their earlier victory over the SoCal Hard Eights.
Here are the individual matchups for the contest:
WD: Jessie Irvine/Genie Bouchard (PHX) v. Lacy Schneemann/Samantha Parker (ORL)
MD: Jack Sock/Tyson McGuffin (PHX) v. Federico Staksrud/Dylan Frazier (ORL)
MXD 1: Irvine/McGuffin (PHX) v. Schneemann/Staksrud (ORL)
MXD 2: Bouchard/Sock (PHX) v. Parker/Frazier (ORL)
4:00pm ET: New Jersey outlasts Brooklyn in DreamBreaker
In 2024, one of the calling cards for the New Jersey 5s was their prowess in DreamBreakers.
It seems like that hasn’t changed much with the new season, as they defeated the Brooklyn Pickleball Team via a DreamBreaker on Friday afternoon.
Anna Leigh Waters/Meghan Dizon gave New Jersey an early advantage with an 11-6 victory over Rachel Rohrabacher/Jackie Kawamoto in women’s doubles.
Brooklyn’s Dekel Bar/Riley Newman tied things up with a dominant display in men’s doubles, taking it 11-3 over Will Howells/Zane Navratil.
Bar kept things going from there, as he and Rohrabacher defeated Dizon/Navratil 11-4 in the first mixed doubles match to come within one win of the regulation victory.
Not deterred by the pressure of having to win to extend the match, Waters/Howells took down Kawamoto/Newman in the second mixed doubles contest to bring on the DreamBreaker.
From there, the 5s cruised to the win by a 21-7 score line.
Waters outscored Rohrabacher 7-1 through two rotations, and Navratil had the same success against Riley Newman to help New Jersey comfortably earn its second win of the season.
Howells talked about the importance of Waters’ support after a tough loss in men’s doubles.
“She’s an incredible competitor, and she just brought me up,” he mentioned. “We had a tough men’s match—[Dekel and Riley] played really, really well—and then we had to come back. The team was super supportive even though we had a tough one out there, which was huge for the rest of the match.”
Both teams will be back in action on Saturday. New Jersey will face the Atlanta Bouncers and Phoenix Flames, while Brooklyn will face the Miami Pickleball Club and Orlando Squeeze.
3:35pm ET: Atlanta Bouncers v. Texas Ranchers: Starting lineups and matchups released
The Atlanta Bouncers will face the Texas Ranchers Friday afternoon, as both teams try to build on their season-opening victories.
Atlanta defeated the New York Hustlers, while Texas defeated the Brooklyn Pickleball Team.
Here are the individual matchups for the contest:
WD: Vivian Glozman/Victoria DiMuzio (ATL) v. Etta Tuionetoa/Tina Pisnik (TEX)
MD: Jaume Martinez Vich/Todd Fought (ATL) v. Christian Alshon/Eric Oncins (TEX)
MXD 1: Glozman/Martinez Vich (ATL) v. Tuionetoa/Alshon (TEX)
MXD 2: DiMuzio/Fought (ATL) v. Pisnik/Oncins (TEX)
3:25pm ET: Columbus Sliders v. Carolina Hogs: Starting lineups and matchups released
The Columbus Sliders will take on the Carolina Hogs in what will be the first match of the season for Carolina.
Here are the individual matchups for the contest:
WD: Parris Todd/Lea Jansen (COL) v. Kaitlyn Christian/Tamaryn Emmrich (CAR)
MD: Andrei Daescu/CJ Klinger (COL) v. Ben Johns/Collin Johns (CAR)
MXD 1: Todd/Daescu (COL) v. Emmrich/B. Johns (CAR)
MXD 2: Jansen/Klinger (COL) v. Christian/C. Johns (CAR)
2:25pm ET: Miami sneaks past Utah for second DreamBreaker victory
The Miami Pickleball Club picked up its second DreamBreaker victory of the season, coming away with a hard-fought win over the Utah Black Diamonds.
After Allyce Jones/Genie Erokhina took the women's doubles match for the Black Diamonds, Miami gained the upper hand with wins in men's doubles and the first mixed doubles match, which both featured strong performances from Noe Khlif.
Allyce Jones/Connor Garnett kept Utah in the match with an 11-6 victory over Mya Bui/Jay Devilliers to bring on the DreamBreaker.
In that deciding contest, Khlif shined for Miami; he outscored Utah's Tyler Loong 9-3 through three rotations, which eventually set Deviliers to start a rotation against Garnett with teams tied at 18.
The ‘Flying Frenchman’ delivered in crunch time and scored three of four points to help Miami improve to 2-0 on the season.
Both teams will be back in action at the USTA National Campus on Saturday, with the Black Diamonds set to face the Orlando Squeeze and Miami scheduled to take on the Brooklyn Pickleball Team.
2:20pm ET: New York Hustlers v. Dallas Flash: Starting lineups and matchups released
The New York Hustlers will face the Dallas Flash Friday afternoon and look to rebound from their season-opening loss to the Atlanta Bouncers.
Here are the individual matchups for the contest:
WD: Helena Spiridis/Lingwei Kong (NY) v. Tyra Black/Jorja Johnson (DAL)
MD: Zane Ford/Donald Young (NY) v. JW Johnson/Augie Ge (DAL)
MXD 1: Kong/Ford (NY) v. Johnson/Johnson (DAL)
MXD 2: Spiridis/Young (NY) v. Black/Ge (DAL)
1:50pm ET: Dallas dominates Columbus, begins new season with a win
It’s been over five months since the Dallas Flash clinched the 2024 Premier level championship, and it looks like the defending champions are picking up right where they left off.
In their first match of the 2025 season, they defeated the Columbus Sliders 3-1.
Tyra Black/Jorja Johnson set the tone for the contest with an 11-1 triumph over the Sliders’ Parris Todd/Lea Jansen.
JW Johnson/Augie Ge followed suit and dispatched Andrei Daescu/CJ Klinger 11-7 to put the Flash up 2-0 going into mixed doubles.
From there, the Johnson sibling emphatically closed out the encounter with an 11-0 pickle victory over Jansen/Klinger.
JW Johnson spoke about the pressure that comes with being the defending champions.
“We know that every team is gonna come out extra motivated to face us, and so we’ve just gotta be prepared for it and come out with our ‘A’ game every time,” he said.
Both teams will be back in action Friday afternoon; Columbus will face the Carolina Hogs, while Dallas will take on the New York Hustlers.
1:40pm ET: Brooklyn Pickleball Team v. New Jersey 5s: Starting lineups and matchups released
The Brooklyn Pickleball Team will take on the New Jersey 5s in the second match of the day on Championship Court.
Brooklyn will be looking to rebound after losing to the Texas Ranchers on Thursday, while New Jersey is looking to carry over the momentum from a season-opening triumph over the Columbus Sliders.
Here are the individual matchups for the contest:
WD: Rachel Rohrabacher/Jackie Kawamoto (BKN) v. Anna Leigh Waters/Meghan Dizon (NJ)
MD: Dekel Bar/Riley Newman (BKN) v. Will Howells/Zane Navratil (NJ)
MXD 1: Rohrabacher/Bar (BKN) v. Dizon/Navratil (NJ)
MXD 2: Kawamoto/Newman (BKN) v. Waters/Howells (NJ)
12:45pm ET: Miami Pickleball Club v. Utah Black Diamonds: Starting lineups and matchups released
The Miami Pickleball Club will look to build on their season-opening DreamBreaker victory over the SoCal Hard Eights when they face the Utah Black Diamonds early Friday afternoon.
Here are the individual matchups for the contest:
WD: Milan Rane/Mya Bui (MIA) v. Genie Erokhina/Allyce Jones (UT)
MD: Noe Khlif/Jay Devilliers (MIA) v. Connor Garnett/Tyler Loong (UT)
MXD 1: Rane/Khlif (MIA) v. Erokhina/Loong (UT)
MXD 2: Bui/Devilliers (MIA) v. Jones/Garnett (UT)
12:40pm ET: Orlando closes out SoCal in regulation
The Orlando Squeeze kicked off their season with a 3-1 victory over the SoCal Hard Eights.
With their team up 2-0 after gender doubles, Lacy Schneemann/Federico Staksrud sealed the deal with an 11-7 win over Judit Castillo/Ryan Fu in the first mixed doubles match.
The Hard Eights are finished after playing two matches in Orlando, while the Squeeze will be back in action later Friday afternoon against the Phoenix Flames.
11:50am ET: Dallas Flash v. Columbus Sliders: Starting lineups and matchups released
The Dallas Flash, the reigning Premier level champions, will start their season with a matchup against the Columbus Sliders.
Here are the individual matchups for the contest:
WD: Tyra Black/Jorja Johnson (DAL) v. Parris Todd/Lea Jansen (COL)
MD: JW Johnson/Augie Ge (DAL) v. Andrei Daescu/CJ Klinger (COL)
MXD 1: Johnson/Johnson (DAL) v. Jansen/Klinger (COL)
MXD 2: Black/Ge (DAL) v. Todd/Daescu (COL)
11:40am ET: Orlando in control after gender doubles
The Orlando Squeeze have a 2-0 advantage over the SoCal Hard Eights after taking both gender doubles matches:
- Lacy Schneemann/Samantha Parker def. Judit Castillo/Irina Tereschenko 11-4.
- Federico Staksrud/Dylan Frazier def. Ryan Fu/Blaine Hovenier 11-9.
Mixed doubles is up next.
10:45am ET: SoCal Hard Eights v. Orlando Squeeze: Starting lineups and matchups released
Friday's first match will feature the SoCal Hard Eights taking on the Orlando Squeeze.
The Hard Eights will look to rebound from a DreamBreaker loss to the Miami Pickleball Club on Thursday, while the Squeeze will look to start their 2025 campaign off with a win.
Here are the individual matchups for the contest:
WD: Judit Castillo/Irina Tereschenko (SOC) v. Lacy Schneemann/Samantha Parker (ORL)
MD: Ryan Fu/Blaine Hovenier (SOC) v. Federico Staksrud/Dylan Frazier (ORL)
MXD 1: Castillo/Fu (SOC) v. Schneemann/Staksrud (ORL)
MXD 2: Tereschenko/Hovenier (SOC) v. Parker/Frazier (ORL)
Friday's Order of Play released
Here is the Order of Play for the eight matches being played on Friday:
Related articles
Best dressed at the Veolia Atlanta Pickleball Championships
Fashion is my favorite part of the game.
15 hours ago
-Victoria Radnothy
Waters overcomes challenge from Fahey to secure women’s singles gold, Triple Crown
Anna Leigh Waters secured her 34th career PPA Triple Crown after a hard-fought match against Kate Fahey.
1 day ago
-Will Daughton
Johns outduels Garnett in three-game epic for men’s singles gold
It was a battle that certainly warranted the emotional response we saw from Johns after clinching the win.
1 day ago
-Will Daughton
Waters, Bright power past Parenteau, Rohrabacher for first title since 2023
Anna Leigh Waters and Anna Bright struck gold in their first tournament back playing together.
1 day ago
-Will Daughton