The 2025 MLP regular season has now ended and what a great regular season it was.

St. Louis and Dallas battled all year for the top seed, LA and Texas battled nearly to the last day for the sixth and last first-round playoff bye, and Miami and Chicago contested the 10th and last playoff spot to the very end.

There was the expected great play from veteran pickleball pros, the unexpected great play from new stars, and exciting play from young pros new to the scene.

 

With the regular season ending, it is time to recognize the best of the best, with the All-MLP teams.* Only four players (two men and two women) can be first team All-MLP. We also pick a second and third team, to honor the 12 best year-long performances. It was not easy to pick the best of the best; there were five women who could easily have been first team. But just as the NFL all-pro team has only one quarterback, and only eleven players on offense, the All-MLP first team has only four spots.

 

*As a quick caveat, these selections are my own and are not affiliated with or endorsed by Major League Pickleball. 

 

 

1. Anna Leigh Waters, New Jersey. Waters is the only repeat first-teamer from 2024. She was 22-3 in women’s doubles with Meghan Dizon (all stats provided courtesy of Matty Pickles), and 25-3 in mixed doubles with Will Howells. She ranked #3 for the season in overall player win percentage. Waters helped New Jersey to the #3 seed for the playoffs and her presence forces teams to think hard about how to avoid a DreamBreaker.

 

2. Jorja Johnson, Dallas. Johnson led all MLP players with a 51-7 overall record. Yes, she has good partners in JW Johnson and Tyra Black, but 51-7 is hard to argue with. Jorja and JW were 27-2 in mixed doubles and were the #1 ranked mixed doubles team all year. Jorja was a second team choice in 2024 and moves up to the first team for 2025.

 

3. Gabe Tardio, St. Louis. Tardio had a 49-9 record this year to make his first All-MLP appearance. He combined with Hayden Patriquin to lead a tough men’s doubles field with an impressive 27-2 record. In mixed doubles, Tardio had a 21-6 record with Kate Fahey. Fahey is an improving player, but is only ranked #15 in PPA mixed doubles. For Tardio to post a 21-6 record with a partner who is outside the top 10 is an MVP-worthy statistic. Tardio/Fahey were the best #2 mixed team in MLP this year.

 

4. Hayden Patriquin, St. Louis. Patriquin moves up from the 2024 second team to the 2025 first team, driven by his 50-7 overall record, best among all men. He was 27-2 in men’s doubles and 23-3 in mixed. That is first team material.

 

 

 

1. Anna Bright, St. Louis. Bright adds a second team selection to her first team selection last year. She was the third ranked overall female with a 47-10 record. She added her energy as team captain, leading St. Louis to the #1 seed. The gap between Bright and the first team is very small, but again only two women can be first team.

 

2. Rachel Rohrabacher, Brooklyn. Rohrabacher repeats her second team selection from a year ago, powered by her 44-15 overall record. While her overall record was “only” sixth among all women, the details of that record matter. Brooklyn was handicapped for much of the year by injuries to their male players. Thus, Rohrabacher (and Jackie Kawamoto) had to carry an extra burden, knowing that they really needed to win women’s doubles to power the team. Rohrabacher also had to switch mixed partners mid-season. She posted an excellent 9-2 record with Dekel Bar, but played most of the season with undrafted AJ Koller. With Koller, she went 13-5 and that helped secure Brooklyn a top four seed. While Koller is a fine player (and likely will win the super sub award for the year), the fact is he was undrafted AND no team thought he was worthy of picking up on waivers. For Rohrabacher to have the record she did, under the circumstances she faced, was impressive.

 

3. Will Howells, New Jersey. Howells was first team in 2024, and slides down to second team for 2025. He was outstanding again with Waters, going 25-3. In men’s doubles, Howells played first with Zane Navratil, going 13-7. He then switched to Noe Khlif, posting a 5-4 record with him. Howells was the left side power for this team and his second team selection is well-deserved.

 

4. JW Johnson, Dallas. Like Howells, Johnson was a first team selection in 2024. Like Howells, JW’s 2025 record was impressive, although not quite as good as 2024. In mixed, Johnson was at #1 with Jorja Johnson with a 27-2 record. Johnson took a small step back in men’s doubles, as he and Augie Ge were 16-13. The overall record of 43-15 trailed only Tardio, Patriquin, and Howells.

 

 

 

1. Tyra Black, Dallas. Black repeats her third team selection from 2024. Black’s play, like that of Bright and Rohrabacher, was worthy of consideration for the first team. She was 45-12 overall, with a particularly impressive 21-7 mixed record with Augie Ge. After Tardio/Fahey, the Dallas #2 mixed team was the next best.

 

2. Jackie Kawamoto, Brooklyn. This selection was perhaps the toughest one. It came down to Jackie or Jade Kawamoto. Jackie was 42-16 overall, just a hair better than Jade’s 40-16. Jackie was 17-6 with Riley Newman and 22-8 in women’s doubles with Rohrabacher. Jackie was super consistent all year, just enough to give her the nod for the last All-MLP spot.

 

3. Andrei Daescu, Columbus. Daescu repeats his third team selection from 2024. He was 16-8 in men’s doubles with CJ Klinger, and 19-9 in mixed with Parris Todd. Daescu was the steadiest player all year for Columbus, the fifth best team.

 

4. Federico Staksrud, Orlando. This is Staksrud’s first All-MLP selection. He had an overall record of 38-20, with a men’s doubles record of 22-7. His mixed record was, well, mixed but he did not have partners as good as the other men selected to the team. Orlando’s record showed again that to win big at MLP, a team has to have top rated women, no matter how good the men are.

 

 

Well, there you have it, the 2025 All-MLP teams, the best 12 MLP players of 2025.

We now move on to the 2025 playoffs, which should be the most exciting playoffs in MLP history. St. Louis and Dallas have been the best teams all year, but they will be challenged hard by New Jersey, Brooklyn, Columbus, and LA. Will we see an upset? Catch all the action on Pickleballtv.

 

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