Ben Johns and Hayden Patriquin are taking the week off, so we have some new partnerships at the top. None of the Big Four teams of 2025 are playing together. Andrei Daescu snaps up Gabe Tardio as his partner and they get the #1 seed. In their top half of the draw, the #4 seed is CJ Klinger and Jaume Martinez Vich. Both can be a little up and down, so their unfamiliarity playing with each other could be an issue. At #6, Dekel Bar plays with Pablo Tellez, and if the seeds hold, they would face Klinger/Martinez Vich in the quarters.

 

Daescu and Tardio will likely play the young gun duo in the Round of 16 of Jonathan Truong and Tam Trinh, the #15 seed. Truong and Trinh are a high ceiling, low floor team. Daecsu and Tardio will be a tough draw for them, and I think they would have had a reasonable chance to make a deep run, if they had been put in a different quarter of the draw. We will see if they can pull the upset.

 

In the bottom half of the draw, the #2 seed goes to Federico Staksrud and Christian Alshon. This will put Staksrud back on the left after playing right side with Patriquin recently. Their expected quarterfinal opponents are #5 seed Dylan Frazier/Eric Oncins. Oncins has been playing at a very high level recently. Frazier has dropped off from where he was when he played with JW Johnson, and his switch away from a JOOLA paddle has also appeared to hinder him. But, that is a capable team, so expect a tough quarterfinal.

 

The #3 seed is JW Johnson and Augie Ge. Johnson is used to playing with a lefty, so pairing with the steady Ge should be fine. If the seeds hold, their quarterfinal opponents would be #8 seed Jay Devilliers/Tom Protzek. Devilliers is over his injury issues and is playing like a top 20 player again. Protzek is a relatively new player on the PPA scene, who has made great progress in the last year, mainly in singles. Can he hold up in doubles against the big boys?

 

For some lower seeds that are interesting, check #9 AJ Koller/Connor Garnett and #11 DJ Young/Wyatt Stone. For an early round match worth a look, see the Round of 32 match between #10 Rafa Hewett/Marshall Brown vs. #20 John Lucian Goins/Zane Ford. Goins and Ford are another set of young players who have success at singles, but still need a signature win in doubles to show they are not just singles specialists.

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2. Women’s doubles

 

This is the only event in Daytona Beach for Anna Leigh Waters, and she takes the #1 seed next to Jorja Johnson. They will be very difficult to beat. If there is one player who might be a better partner for Waters than Anna Bright, that person is Johnson. It will be interesting to see how dominant they can be without tournament experience together. Their likely quarterfinal opponents are #7 seed Mari Humberg/Jessie Irvine. They pair well together, but the Waters/Johnson pair likely has too much talent for an upset to occur. Also in the top half of the draw are #4 Tina Pisnik/Meghan Dizon and #6 Lea Jansen/Kaitlyn Christian. Neither of these pairs look to be a threat to the top seed, as Pisnik/Dizon are both better on the right, and Christian has yet to show real strides in doubles. Like some of the men discussed above, Christian needs to show she is more than a singles specialist.

 

In the bottom half of the draw, the #2 seed goes to Tyra Black and Catherine Parenteau. They are well matched, as Black can and should play left full time and Parenteau the right full time. We will see if they make a mistake and fail to fully stack, as they would be vulnerable if they do not. If the seeds hold, their quarterfinal opponents will be #8 Lacy Schneemann/Milan Rane. They are teammates on MLP Orlando, so will know each other’s game. The #3 seed is Rachel Rohrabacher/Etta Tuionetoa. Tuionetoa should play all left side, but she just has not had a good 2025 season. The #5 seed is Allyce Jones/Callie Smith, veterans who know each other well. If we see a seed outside the top four make it to Sunday, look for it to be Jones/Smith.

 

 

Anna Leigh Waters and Ben Johns sit this one out, so it is an opportunity for a rare gold medal for someone else. Look for it to go to #1 seed Jorja and JW Johnson. They have been dominant in 2025, beating everyone regularly, except Waters/Johns. On their side of the draw, they will first face #5 Rachel Rohrabacher/Federico Staksrud. Rorhabacher has been playing well, but Staksrud has never had the same level of success in mixed doubles that he has enjoyed in men’s doubles. With Waters/Johns out, this is his best chance for a rare mixed doubles medal. Also in the top half are MLP teammates #7 Tina Pisnik/Eric Oncins and #9 Lea Jansen/Noe Khlif.

 

The #2 seed goes to Tyra Black/Christian Alshon. Black has played great women’s doubles all of 2025, but she is not as strong in mixed, especially when forced to play right side. But again, with Waters/Johns out, this is their best chance for a Sunday run. Standing in their way first will be #4 Catherine Parenteau/Dekel Bar, #6 Kaitlyn Christian/Andrei Daescu, and #8 Etta Tuionetoa/CJ Klinger. Bar has not played well after coming back from injuries, so we will see if he is back to his normal self. When at 100%, Bar is a very good mixed player. Daescu is a beast, but I do not think Christian will be able to keep up her end well enough. They do have a good draw, and Daescu’s talent should get them to the quarters.

 

There are some lower seeds who have a real chance to make a run. #10 Meghan Dizon/Jaume Martinez Vich, #13 Allyce Jones/AJ Koller, and #14 Callie Smith/Jay Devilliers all have potential. Of the three, Smth/Devilliers have the best draw, and the most experience playing together, so they are my pick for the surprise team in this one.

 

 

The men’s singles draw is not quite as deep as the average tournament, but there are still 20 players who could win it. Federico Staksrud takes the top seed and enters as the favorite. He will run into #8 Noe Khlif early. Khlif has beaten Staksrud, and their matches are always a must-see exhibition of shotmaking and athleticism. #3 Connor Garnett and #5 Gabe Joseph are also in the top half and Joseph could well be the player to emerge from this top half of the draw.

 

In the bottom half, #2 seed Christian Alshon is entered, but he has had recent drop outs from singles, so we will have to see if he is 100%. His biggest challenger in the bottom half is #4 seed Chris Haworth. But Haworth was given the toughest draw in the field. He will have to work his way through #17 Eric Oncins in the Round of 16. They played an epic match last month in Lakeland, with Oncins winning 13-11 in the third game. Haworth also would likely need to get past multiple gold medal winner #6 seed John Lucian Goins. No draw in men’s singles is easy, but Haworth has been given a particularly tough one.

 

 

Kaitlyn Christian is the top seed and should be a reasonable favorite in her best event. Her likely quarterfinal opponent is #5 Liz Truluck and semifinal opponent would be the winner of #4 Genie Bouchard vs. #6 Judit Castillo. In the bottom half, the #2 seed goes to Lea Jansen. She can be a strong singles player, but does not always play to her own level. She has a pretty clear path to the semis. The bottom quarter of the draw is the difficult one. #7 Lara Giltinan has been playing well, but she faces #9 Salome Devidze as her likely Round of 16 opponent. Devidze is far and away the toughest Round of 16 opponent that any of the top 8 seeds will face. Also in that part of the draw is #3 seed Catherine Parenteau.

 

If Jansen is up to speed, she has a good chance to win this one, which would be a rare gold for her. The winner of that Devidze/Giltinan match could be the surprise player on Sunday.

 

 

I am coming off one of my best tournaments of the year for predictions in Lakeland. I was six for six in predicting the doubles gold/silver medalists, and specifically predicted the Kawamotos upset of of Tyra Black/Parris Todd.

 

Let’s see if I can end 2025 on a high note.

 

Men’s doubles: Daescu/Tardio over Oncins/Frazier. Oncins has been red hot. I will be doing my end of year player rankings soon, and Oncins will be the big mover up the ladder.

Women’s doubles: Waters/Johnson will cruise. I do not expect them to lose a game. Give the silver to Parenteau/Black.

 

Mixed doubles: The Johnsons should again win easily. I like Parenteau/Bar to make the final, on the assumption that Bar is back to 100%. I like Smith/Devilliers to make a sneaky run to Sunday play.

Men’s singles: Staksrud has the easiest draw, after he gets revenge against Noe Khlif. Picking who comes out of the lower half is about impossible. I will go with Goins to fall to Staksrud in the final.

Women’s singles: I like Jansen over Christian in the final.

 

2025 has been a great year for the PPA. We have seen domination at the top, players making big jumps up the rankings ladder, and a lot of new, young, exciting players chasing their dreams. Check Pickleball.com frequently in the next couple of weeks for interesting columns on how our 2025 predictions stood up, player rankings, and predictions for 2026.

 

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