Riley Newman hits a ball at the PPA Masters.
Riley Newman competing at the PPA Masters.  PPA Tour

New paddle sponsor announcements ahead of Desert Ridge Open

DALLAS, TX - Tuesday brought with it a series of paddle sponsor announcements from Riley Newman, Christian Alshon and Tina Pisnik.

Newman and Pisnik signed with ProXR, while Alshon signed with Paddletek.

Even though ProXR and Paddletek are distinct companies, they now exist under the same umbrella: United Pickleball Paddles (UPP), a subsidiary of United Pickleball Properties.

The Dink reported that the parent company of ProXR and Boundless Pickleball—Thirty-5 Capital—had created UPP to combine the two companies with Paddletek.

With this move, a list of the sport’s top pros that now includes Anna Leigh Waters, Connor Garnett, Zane Navratil and Andrea Koop (in addition to Newman, Alshon and Pisnik) are all housed under the same organization.

We’ll get to see all three of these newly signed players compete at this week’s PPA Desert Ridge Open.

Alshon will compete in the men’s singles draw Thursday as the No. 5 seed and play mixed and men’s doubles alongside Catherine Parenteau and Julian Arnold, respectively.

Newman will play mixed with Jackie Kawamoto and men’s with Thomas Wilson, while Pisnik will play mixed with Dekel Bar and women’s doubles with Andrea Koop.