The second MLP semifinal in New York City gives us the hottest team, the Dallas Flash, taking on the always impressive St. Louis Shock. Dallas started slowly in 2026, but has come on strong in the playoffs, most recently defeating the LA Mad Drops in the quarterfinals. Meanwhile, St. Louis dominated Texas, only giving up 20 points total in six games. Dallas has been great lately, but now face their toughest test yet. Time to go over each doubles pairing and the potential DreamBreaker matchup to break it all down.

 

 

After losing Jorja Johnson, Dallas was very active in the trade market during the season. They remade their team completely on the women’s side. Their roster now includes Danni-Elle Townsend, Brooke Buckner, and Alix Truong. Dallas has been playing Townsend and Truong in women’s doubles. Townsend has been getting all the accolades, but the fact is the Dallas women’s doubles pairing has just been ok. Their season record is 15-12. In Newport Beach, Townsend and Truong did defeat Catherine Parenteau and Jade Kawamoto two out of the three games played; however, Parenteau/Kawamoto were only 20-15 on the season, so defeating them is of modest significance.

 

Townsend and Truong did not play St. Louis in 2026. They were 0-3 against New Jersey and Columbus, who along with St. Louis, had the best women’s doubles teams in 2026. The best wins this season for Townsend and Truong were against Brooklyn.

 

Anna Bright and Kate Fahey for St. Louis will present Dallas with a very tough task. Bright and Fahey were 30-4 this year. They had the only win against New Jersey’s top team. They played well together in Newport Beach.

 

It is not going to happen, but Dallas should consider playing Buckner instead of Truong. Townsend’s excellent mixed doubles record, 19-4, contrasts sharply with her 15-12 record with Truong. This is an indication that Truong is the weak spot in women’s doubles. Buckner has been playing extremely well in mixed doubles on the right side, and played her best pickleball of 2026 in Newport Beach. Dallas is a big underdog in women’s doubles. Shaking things up with a lineup change, that is strongly supported by both the statistics and the eye test, would be a bold move. But, I doubt Dallas has the foresight to see it. With Dallas sending out Townsend and Truong, Dallas has a chance to win, but is a decided underdog. 

 

 

The men’s doubles game features strong teams on both sides of the net. Dallas will play JW Johnson and Augie Ge. Johnson is playing MVP pickleball, and Ge has been very steady. In the key game of match three against LA, Johnson and Ge took down Ben Johns and Max Freeman, 11-2. Johnson and Ge were 25-12 this year, which is a good record, as men’s doubles is the most competitive of the four doubles games in MLP.

 

For St. Louis, the duo of Hayden Patriquin and Gabe Tardio was the #1 men’s team at 30-4. They were dominant in Newport Beach, easily defeating the tough team of Eric Oncins and Nico Acevedo.

 

Patriquin and Tardio will seek to dink crosscourt to Ge’s backhand. That is the most vulnerable spot on the court, as it will be Tardio dinking forehand to Ge’s backhand. Ge is steady, but will make some errors off the backhand, either with missed dinks for impatient rolls into the net or long. Patriquin’s quick hands also greatly neutralize Ge’s ability to speed up off the backhand. A key will be for Patriquin and Tardio to be patient. If they just play long, patient points, focused on Ge, they will have the advantage. St. Louis also will need to stay away from Johnson’s backhand flick. Johnson tends not to speed up much off the forehand. He used to never do it, but has started to speed up some off the forehand bounce. 

 

St. Louis’ one possible weakness is impatience, mainly by Patriquin. In long points, Patriquin has a tendency to get antsy and to try to cover too much court. He gets caught going too far to his right, and then having to shift way back to his left, creating errors. If Patriquin just lets Tardio take everything on Tardio’s side and even a little of the middle, St. Louis can play long, patient points. Tardio is so long and quick that even when he shades toward the middle, it is impossible to hit wide to his forehand to any advantage.

 

Dallas can win this game, but it will take heroics by Johnson, super steady play by Ge, and some errors by St. Louis.

 

 

St. Louis will have home team advantage, so they can pick the matchups. It is expected St. Louis will play best on best. But, there is a good argument that St. Louis should play their best mixed team second. St. Louis has the better DreamBreaker lineup. Thus, their doubles strategy should be focused on avoiding losing 3-1. Winning 3-1 or tying at 2-2 both are favorable to St. Louis. If St. Louis wins both gender doubles games, then they want #1 vs. #2, to have the best odds to win 3-1. If gender splits, then again St. Louis should want to minimize the chance Dallas wins 3-1, which is accomplished by playing mixed #1 against Dallas’ mixed #2.

 

In the end, I think St. Louis will do what they have always done and play their #1 team first against JW Johnson and Brooke Buckner. The odds and statistics arguably say that is an error, but as St. Louis is so good, it probably will not matter.

 

For Dallas, Johnson and Buckner played their best at Newport Beach. The third match against LA was the best Buckner played all year. Johnson was his same top-level self, but Buckner was everywhere on defense, saving point after point. Their record on the year was 22-12; good but not great. To beat St. Louis, they will need to be great.

 

St. Louis will roll out Anna Bright and Hayden Patriquin. They were 25-7 on the year. They can be beaten, but it usually occurs due to their not playing well, rather than the other team playing great. Losses most often happen due to Patriquin being impatient, covering too much court, and getting out of position. Patriquin will go too far on Bright’s side of the court to take simple dinks. What he should do is just let Bright hit her topspin roll forehand dink crosscourt and wait for a better opportunity. This is another matchup where long points should favor St. Louis. Bright is one of the best women at hitting crosscourt forehand dinks. Buckner has been good lately, but does not hit that shot with the same consistency or force as Bright.

 

Patriquin and Johnson will as usual look to poach middle. Patriquin tends to be better at this task, due to his quickness, while Johnson usually is more passive. But Johnson lately has been more aggressive. That is something to watch for. Bright and Buckner will both want to occasionally go behind their male opponent. They need to do it rarely, as both Patriquin and Johnson are so quick off the backhand volley. But the women need to keep the opposing men honest. This will be a very good and close matchup, especially if Buckner continues her high level of play.

 

 

The #2 mixed is the most even of the four doubles matchups. Dallas will send out Danni-Elle Townsend and Augie Ge. They were 19-4 on the season, an excellent record. They did, of course, benefit by playing the opposing mixed #2. But Ge benefits in mixed by not having to dink crosscourt to a male opponent’s forehand, which is his weak spot in men’s doubles. Townsend, for her part, gets to play a lot of “big middle”, as Ge is fine ceding more court to her. This allows Townsend to play aggressively, which in turn fires her up, which in turn makes her play better.

 

For St. Louis, they have Kate Fahey and Gabe Tardio. They were 21-4 on the year. Similarly to Townsend/Ge, Fahey and Tardio benefitted all year by playing the #2 mixed opponents. In Newport Beach, they never had to take the court, as St. Louis defeated Texas 3-0 in both matches.

 

This game is a very interesting one. Fahey will play in a classic style, making balls, hitting solid dinks, keeping the point alive, while Tardio uses his length to seek poaches. But, Dallas plays a non-traditional style of mixed, both because Ge is a lefty and because Townsend is the aggressive one, looking for opportunities on offense. It is another matchup where St. Louis will want longer points, and Dallas will be speeding up more. Tardio is great at counters, so expect Dallas to speed up a lot at Fahey. I think this game will be won or lost by how successful Dallas is at attacking Fahey.

 

 

If matches tie at 2-2, we will go to the DreamBreaker lineups. For Dallas, they play JW Johnson, Augie Ge, Brooke Buckner, and Danni-Elle Townsend. Buckner is the only one known as a top singles player. But, Johnson, Ge, and Townsend are all effective in the four points at a time style for DreamBreakers. Johnson, for example, topped Ben Johns 6-2 in the one DreamBreaker Dallas played against LA.

 

For St. Louis, they will play Hunter Johnson, Hayden Patriquin, Kate Fahey, and Anna Bright. Johnson is a top singles player, but as we have seen, coming in cold off the bench is not easy. Patriquin is solid. Fahey is excellent at singles. Bright is similar to Townsend, as a non-singles player who is super competitive and will play well in a DreamBreaker. St. Louis is better on paper in each of the four matchups, but not by much each time. You have to favor St. Louis to win a DreamBreaker by a score of around 21-18, but this is no better than maybe 60-40 in St. Louis’ favor.

 

Who will win? St. Louis is the stronger team on paper. They have the best lineup top to bottom of any team. They have no significant weakness, and everyone is playing well. But, all that was true in 2024 and 2025, and St. Louis did not win either year. If Dallas could pull an early upset in women’s doubles, that could throw off St. Louis for the whole weekend. Of if JW Johnson can stay hot and dominate, that is another path for success for Dallas. You have to favor St. Louis, and indeed to win 2-0. But Dallas is a hot team and that status worked in 2025 for Columbus. Can it work for Dallas in 2026?

 

We will see! Watch it all on Pickleballtv, beginning Friday, August 28.

 

Follow me on X @pickleball_jim for updates.