The PPA Tour moves to Southern California for the SXY Newport Beach Open.

The tournament begins Monday from the Tennis Club of Newport Beach.

 

Great weather is expected, so we should see some big crowds out to see the best players in the world compete.

 

 

Men’s doubles in 2026 has been dominated by two stories. First, the top seed of Gabe Tardio and Ben Johns keeps winning. Second, the semifinals have been made up of the top four seeds/top eight players, consisting of Tardio/Johns, Christian Alshon/Hayden Patriquin, Federico Staksrud/Andrei Daescu, and JW Johnson/CJ Klinger. Thus, we have the usual questions for Newport Beach: Can anyone else break into the semifinals? and Can anyone dethrone Tardio/Johns?

 

In Newport Beach, the best opportunities to see a new semifinalist are likely #9 AJ Koller/Noe Khlif and #10 Jack Sock/Pablo Tellez, with both pairs needing to get past Staksrud/Daescu. Koller mysteriously went unpicked in the recent MLP Draft, but he is a very solid player, whose quirky style can frustrate opponents. He is paired with Noe Khlif, who has been playing very steady pickleball. Sock/Tellez present a similar profile, with the unpredictable Sock next to the steady Tellez. The next possible upset could come from #5 Eric Oncins/Dylan Frazier, who would need to get through Alshon/Patriquin, a tough task. Outside of the top eight players, Oncins is playing the best of anyone. Finally, for a bit of a longshot, check out #12 DJ Young/Blaine Hovenier, who would need to defeat Johnson/Klinger. Young/Hovenier is an up and down team that would need to play at their ceiling, but if they can, they can beat a good team.

 

Another team to watch early in the week is #21 Greg Dow/Tama Shimabukuro. Dow is a steady right side player who usually plays with fellow veteran Anderson Scarpa, but this week he will mentor young Shimabukuro, who was a top 10 draft choice in last week’s MLP Draft. Shimabukuro has received a lot of hype, but is still looking for significant wins in doubles to show he is really progressing.

 

 

 

Anna Bright and Hayden Patriquin won a convincing mixed doubles final in Mesa over Anna Leigh Waters/Ben Johns, winning three straight games. Many people have been predicting that Patriquin would catch up to Johns as the best player in the world, but Patriquin needs to show the Mesa result was not an aberration. Bright is coming off being the #1 pick in the MLP Draft at a cost of over $1m. Can the million dollar woman take down her women’s doubles partner again?

 

One team standing in the way of a finals rematch is the #2 seed Jorja and JW Johnson. The Johnsons would face Bright/Patriquin in the semis in a great match that could go either way. Some other teams that will have a say include the new partnership of #4 Alix Truong/Christian Alshon, #5 Parris Todd/Andrei Daescu, #6 Tyra Black/Noe Khlif, and #10 Tina Pisnik/Eric Oncins. Interesting that Pisnik and Khlif have switched partners after enjoying so much success together. Of those teams, Pisnik/Oncins have the easiest draw, and they should pair very well together, so look for them to at least make the quarterfinals.

 

 

 

Chris Haworth is making a claim for the top spot in men’s singles. He defeated Ben Johns in the Mesa final. Johns takes singles off in Newport Beach, but #1 seed Hunter Johnson will be there. Haworth gets a #3 seed and is on Johnson’s side of the draw, so that could give us a semifinal for #1 bragging rights. However, there are as always a lot of great singles players who will get in the way of a Johnson/Haworth matchup. Federico Staksrud gets the #2 seed in the bottom half of the draw. He will be strongly challenged by #4 Christian Alshon and #8 Gabe Joseph, who has a relatively favorable draw.

 

To demonstrate how difficult men’s singles is, just look no further than the Round of 64 matchup between #26 JW Johnson and #36 Tyson McGuffin.

 

 

 

Anna Leigh Waters and Anna Bright take their usual spot as the #1 seed in women’s doubles. After losing twice last year, Waters and Bright have been on a roll, not only winning every 2026 gold, but doing so in convincing fashion. This week, the Kawamotos will miss Newport Beach, so the main obstacle will be #2 Jorja Johnson/Tyra Black. Standing in the way of Johnson/Black are #3 Parris Todd/Rachel Rohrabacher, #6 Jessie Irvine/Kaitlyn Christian, and #7 Lea Jansen/Callie Smith. All in all, it does look like Waters and Bright have a pretty clear path to another gold.

 

 

 

Anna Leigh Waters continues to look unbeatable in women’s singles. She rolled to the gold in Mesa, and she not only does not lose, she does not even lose a game. Will she win every gold in 2026? Believe it or not, she is probably an odds on favorite to do just that. Who, if anyone, will even win a game against her?

 

For an interesting match to target for viewing, check the likely Round of 16 matchup between #5 Lea Jansen and #10 Kiora Kunimoto. Kunimoto continues to make progress each week in singles, and Jansen will provide a severe test.

 

 

 

The favorites have been dominating lately, so the challenge has been to find a seed lower than #8 who can make the quarterfinals (or further). For Newport Beach, I will look at #10 Pablo Tellez/Jack Sock in men’s doubles as my first upset pick. Sock is finally progressing at doubles, showing he is putting in the work. He is learning the little things that make doubles different from singles, but he still brings his singles power and unpredictability to doubles. For my second pick, I am looking at #10 Tina Pisnik/Eric Oncins in mixed doubles. Pisnik is best on the right, playing steady defense, while Oncins is best at using his length to cover a lot of court and poach effectively.

 

All the action will be on Pickleballtv, if you cannot be there in person.

 

Follow me on X @pickleball_jim.