Next up on the PPA Tour is the Veolia Texas Open presented by Proton from The Courts of McKinney outside Dallas. The tournament begins Monday, immediately after the SXY Newport Beach Open. Because Newport Beach and Texas are back to back, the ranking points from Newport Beach have not been factored in, so the Texas seedings are similar to the Newport Beach seedings. In addition, at the time of this writing, Newport Beach is still going, so full results from there are obviously not available.

 

 

One of the big stories of 2026, that will only get bigger as the year goes on, is whether Anna Leigh Waters will lose any singles matches in 2026. Indeed, at this point, we may have to change the question to whether she will even lose a game at singles in 2026. At Newport Beach, Waters is again dominating. She played #16 Jalina Ingram in the Round of 16, and Ingram played very well. Ingram hit with power and accuracy, yet still lost 11-3, 11-1. These type of matches show just how good Waters is at singles. Even against an athletic opponent playing solid pickleball, Waters wins easily. Texas looks to be more of the same.

 

 

 

Although not quite as dominating a performance as in singles, Anna Leigh Waters and Anna Bright are looking awfully strong in women’s doubles. When they first teamed up, the consensus was they would dominate. They stumbled with two losses in 2025, and since then have looked like the team we all thought they would be. Like Waters in singles, Waters and Bright in doubles are not just winning all their matches, but they rarely lose a game. They played two matches in Newport Beach and won both 11-0, 11-0!

 

In Texas, the only team in the draw who looks to be a threat to Waters/Bright is #2 Jorja Johnson/Tyra Black. But even Johnson/Black has not fared well lately against the top team, so we wonder if Waters/Bright have solved that puzzle. Other than Johnson/Black, it is tough to find a team in the women’s doubles draw that looks to be able to take down the top team. We may well see a long run of gold medals for Waters/Bright in 2026.

 

 

 

Anna Leigh Waters’ chance at a triple crown at the Carvana Mesa Cup was spoiled by a loss to Anna Bright/Hayden Patriquin in mixed doubles. Here in Newport Beach, and at the Veolia Texas Open, mixed doubles again appears to be the toughest task for Waters to grab gold. In Texas, Jorja and JW Johnson will get the #2 seed, while Bright/Patriquin get the #3 seed. They are on the same side of the draw, to the benefit of Waters and Ben Johns, in that they will only have to play one of them, in the finals. The top half of the draw does not appear to have any team likely to pull the upset of Waters/Johns.

 

In the more competitive bottom half of the draw, watch out for #9 Tina Pisnik/Eric Oncins. They upset Kate Fahey/Federico Staksrud and are a well-matched pair. For a very fun early round match to watch, check out the Round of 64, where #18 Kaitlyn Christian/Jaume Martinez Vich will take on the teenage pair of #20 Cailyn Campbell/Tama Shimabukuro. Campbell played well in Newport Beach, and Shimabukuro keeps making strides with each tournament. Do not be surprised if the youngsters pull the upset on the veterans.

 

 

 

It has been awhile since any team broke into the semifinals in men’s doubles, other than #1 Gabe Tardio/Ben Johns, #2 Christian Alshon/Hayden Patriquin, #3 JW Johnson/CJ Klinger, and #4 Andrei Daescu/Federico Staksrud. In Texas, the biggest threat to the Big Four remains #5 Eric Oncins/Dylan Frazier. Oncins/Frazier are in the same quadrant of the draw as #3 Johnson/Klinger, so if they play each other in the quarterfinals, that should be an excellent match. Oncins/Frazier remains my pick to be the first team to break the stranglehold on the semifinals.

 

A couple of teams that could at least break into the quarterfinals in Texas are #10 Blaine Hovenier/Noe Khlif and #12 Rafa Hewett/Jonathan Truong. Of the many teenagers getting publicity by being selected high at the recent MLP Draft, Jonathan Truong has been slightly under-publicized. But of all of them, he is arguably playing the best, and is closer to reaching his ceiling. It is only a matter of time before Truong racks up some signature wins.

 

 

 

Men’s singles remains the most competitive and unpredictable of the five events. But, Chris Haworth is looking to separate himself from the pack. He has looked dominant in Newport Beach, and he moves up to the #2 seed in Texas, as Hunter Johnson sits one out. Federico Staksrud is the #1 seed, and he will be challenged on his side of the draw by #8 Noe Khlif and #3 Christian Alshon. If/when Staksrud plays either of those two players, watch how often they all come to the kitchen line. There is a real difference developing in styles in men’s singles, between “old school” players like Staksrud, Ben Johns, Khlif, and Alshon, who come to the line 60-80% of the rallies, and the “new school” players like Haworth and Johnson, who will come to the line only 20-30% of the time. The faster balls and more powerful paddles appear to favor the baseline players, so watch to see if Haworth and Johnson begin to pull away from the pack.

 

Two players to watch in the men’s singles draw in Texas are #16 Rafa Lenhard and #27 Tama Shimabukuro. Lenhard gave Jack Sock all he could handle in the Round of 16 in Newport Beach, and Shimabukuro is looking for a statement win in singles. Both have pretty good draws in Texas and could easily make a run.

 

 

 

My two upset picks for Newport Beach both hit. In mixed doubles, I picked #10 Tina Pisnik/Eric Oncins to make at least the quarters, and they have done that. They were the only non-top eight seed to make the quarters in mixed doubles. In men’s doubles, I picked #10 Pablo Tellez/Jack Sock to make a run, and they are indeed in the quarterfinals. Sock’s story in doubles is really interesting. In the 2024 MLP Draft, he was a first round pick and was the most overrated player in all of pickleball. In 2025, he had some success in singles, but his doubles game was undeveloped and he remained overrated. Now, in 2026, he has finally learned the ins and outs of pickleball doubles, but he is underrated! When you watch Sock play doubles now, you see a player who has learned patience, who can dink, who has a backhand, and who can counter, all things missing before this year. Expect Sock to have a number of wins in 2026 against good teams, something that did not happen before this year.

 

For upsets in Texas, I like #12 Hewett/Truong in men’s doubles, #9 Tina Pisnik/Eric Oncins in mixed doubles, and #16 Rafa Lenhard in singles, all to go further than their seeds would indicate.

 

Watch it all on Pickleballtv, from the early rounds all the way to the gold medal matches.

 

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