MLP 2025 is set to kick off on April 24 in Orlando. All 16 Premier teams will be in action. MLP will move across the country during the summer, with ten regular season events and each team playing 25 matches. The championship, the MLP Cup, will be held in November. Ten of the 16 Premier teams are scheduled to make the playoffs. 

 

This preview will go over each of the teams in depth, with predictions on which will make the cut to the playoff ten.

We will start at the bottom and work our way to the best team.

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16. New York Hustlers: New York’s starters are Zane Ford, Donald Young, Dominique Schaefer and Helen Spiridis. There is a good chance Lingwei Kong will replace Spiridis as a starter. Either way, this team is very weak. Ford is improving greatly, and Young has some potential, but neither is yet a top 30 doubles player. Again, I do like Ford to improve a lot as the year goes on, but the Hustlers’ women will be hopelessly outmatched.

 

Predicted record: 4-21

Chance to make the playoffs: 1%

Chance to win it all as presently constructed: 1000-1

 

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15. SoCal Hard Eights: Ryan Fu, Ivan Jakovljevic, Judit Castillo, Irina Tereschenko. This team is very similar to New York. Another team that has no chance to compete.

 

Predicted record: 4-21

Playoffs: 1%

Championship: 1000-1

 

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14. Miami Pickleball Club: Noe Khlif, Jay Devilliers, Milan Rane, Mya Bui. Ava Ignatowich is a sub, but could take Bui’s spot. Khlif is s solid player, but would be best as the #2 player on a good team. Devilliers and Rane are decent players. This team lacks a lead player and enough depth to compete.

 

Predicted record: 5-20

Playoffs: 5%

Championship: 500-1

 

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13. Phoenix Flames: Jack Sock, Tyson McGuffin, Genie Bouchard, Jessie Irvine. This team made some very odd moves in the offseason, most of which weakened the lineup. It is a team built more for marketing than success on the court. McGuffin is solid and versatile, but Sock and Bouchard are not top 30 doubles players, despite their fame.

 

Predicted record: 6-19

Playoffs: 20%

Championship: 100-1

 

12. Carolina Hogs: Ben Johns, Collin Johns, Kaitlyn Christian, Tammy Emmrich. Liz Truluck is a sub who could see some action. It is hard to rank a Ben Johns team this low, but the Carolina ownership continues to refuse to spend any money to upgrade the roster. Collin Johns should have been released; there were much better options available in the re-draft auction. Emmrich is a weak second female. Christian continues to improve, but needs to play with stronger players in doubles to be competitive. This team is going to need to win men’s doubles and Ben’s mixed match just to get to a Dreambreaker to have a chance to win a match. And, the big question remains, how much effort will Ben and Collin put into winning? If Ben and Collin give full effort, and the ownership makes a move or two to improve the women’s side, the team could be much more competitive.

 

Predicted record: 8-17

Playoffs: 30%

Championship: 50-1

 

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11. Utah Black Diamonds: Tyler Loong, Connor Garnett, Allyce Jones, Mehvish Safdar. Genie Erokhina is a key sub. Utah improved a lot in 2024 as the season went along. The players gave good effort every week and by the end of 2024, they were a tough out. Loong and Garnett will be solid if unspectacular again. This team will go as far as their women can take them. Jones will be solid. Safdar is a big question mark. She has skills, but will she improve enough? Erokhina is a very solid player. I would not be surprised if she starts a lot of matches or is the target of a trade by another team (Carolina, are you listening?)

 

Predicted record: 9-16

Playoffs: 40%

Championship: 100-1

 

10. Atlanta Bouncers: Jaume Martinez Vich, Todd Fought, Vivian Glozman, Victoria DiMuzio. This team made a very good move in the offseason to snag Glozman. She is a very good player and is improving. DiMuzio is the wild card. She is new to the pro tour, but has a lot of upside. 2025 is probably one year too early to expect her to compete well at this level. Martinez Vich is a good player, but probably better suited to be the #2 player on a good team. Fought is a fighter and will give a good effort every match. This team is unlikely to go very far, but no one will be happy to play them.

 

Predicted record: 11-14

Playoffs: 60%

Championship: 200-1

 

9. Chicago Slice: James Ignatowich, Max Freeman, Callie Smith, Viv David. Chicago gave a very good effort in the re-draft auction. For a team that started the auction with an empty roster, they did a pretty good job. I am not high on Freeman. He has shown talent at singles, but not doubles. This team is heavily relying on him to significantly improve and quickly. Smith and David are decent players although neither has shown particular skill at MLP.

 

Predicted record: 12-13

Playoffs: 70%

Championship: 100-1

 

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8. Orlando Squeeze: Federico Staksrud, Dylan Frazier, Lacy Schneemann, Samantha Parker. Allison Phillips could see some action, too. Staksrud and Frazier are both very good, although neither has played their best at MLP as yet. Schneemann is a decent player, but again should be the #2 woman on a team. Parker is going to be outclassed. This is another team which did not put in a good effort in the re-draft auction, and needs to make a good trade (once again, Erokhina would fit well here). 

 

Predicted record: 13-12

Playoffs: 75%

Championship: 50-1

 

7. LA Mad Drops: There are talent tiers to MLP this year. New York, SoCal, Miami and Phoenix are in the bottom tier, with no chance of being competitive. Carolina, Utah, Atlanta, Chicago and Orlando are in the next tier, where they will be competitive, but have little chance of winning it all. With LA and the top seven teams, we get to a new tier. Each of these teams is good and has a real chance to win it all. LA has Hunter Johnson, Quang Duong, Catherine Parenteau, and Jade Kawamoto. These are all good players, but I do not think the fit is very good overall. Parenteau will be out of place on the left in women’s doubles, and neither mixed team will work that well together.

 

Predicted record: 15-10

Playoffs: 85%

Championship: 20-1

 

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6. Texas Ranchers: Christian Alshon, Eric Oncins, Etta Tuionetoa, Tina Pisnik. Solid team, which will go as far as Oncins can take them. Alshon is great, Tuionetoa and Pisnik are super solid, and Oncins is the wild card. I would have kept Khlif and not traded for Oncins, but Oncins is improving. If he can play like a top 15 player, the team can go far.

 

Predicted record: 17-8

Playoffs: 90%

Championship: 10-1

 

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5. Columbus Sliders: Andrei Daescu, CJ Klinger, Lea Jansen, Parris Todd. Columbus did a very good job in the offseason, making several good moves. Daescu is playing great, although he has never done much at MLP. Klinger brings enthusiasm to the team, which is important to MLP success. Jansen has the reputation as a poor MLP teammate, but her skills are there. Jansen and Todd are both best off on the right, so the doubles combos are not great. This team has the talent to win it all, but I question the chemistry.

 

Predicted record: 17-8

Playoffs: 95%

Championship: 8-1

 

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4. D.C. Pickleball Team: Dekel Bar, Riley Newman, Rachel Rohrabacher, Jackie Kawamoto. Picking up Newman in the auction was a great move. The Bar/Newman combo is top level. Rohrabacher and Kawamoto are both very good, but are mismatched in that both are better on the right. This team will be strong in men’s and both mixed doubles. I do question if the women’s doubles team can compete at the highest level.

 

Predicted record: 19-6

Playoffs: 98%

Championship: 7-1

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3. New Jersey 5s: Will Howells, Zane Navratil, Anna Leigh Waters, Meghan Dizon. Christa Gecheva is a key sub. This team is the same solid one as last year, just substituting Dizon for Humberg. Dizon’s addition will allow Waters to be on the left in women’s doubles, where she belongs. Howells and Navratil played very well at men’s doubles in 2024. Everyone focused on how well Waters did at women’s doubles, but this team did what it did because of Howells. If he did not play like a top 10 player, this team would have been just good and not great. Howells will need to be great again, but an additional key to the team this year will be whether Dizon can perform under the pressure of playing with Waters. It is difficult to be paired with the #1 player when you are not used to it. Dizon is not a great player under pressure, and she has not performed well in MLP. Navratil is a skilled MLP captain. We will have to see if he can match the chemistry this team had last year.

 

Predicted record: 19-6

Playoffs: 100%

Championship: 5-1

 

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2. St. Louis Shock: Hayden Patriquin, Gabe Tardio, Anna Bright, Kate Fahey. St. Louis brought the band back together. They have talent, youth, and enthusiasm. Chemistry and enthusiasm are of big importance to MLP and it is one of the key differences between MLP and PPA play. The only question on this team is whether Fahey can improve enough at doubles to win it all. She has gotten better, but she needs to improve more. Everyone has expected Fahey to become a top 10 doubles player and it has not yet occurred. Can it happen by November?

 

Predicted record: 20-5

Playoffs: 100%

Championship: 4-1

 

1. Dallas Flash: JW Johnson, Augie Ge, Jorja Johnson, Tyra Black. The champs of 2024 are reunited. They are the most solid team, sending out four doubles teams, all of which fit together. JW/Augie works for men’s doubles, Tyra on the left in women’s doubles and with Ge in mixed is perfect, and JW/Jorja have been one of the best mixed teams for awhile. There is no reason to see this team as anything but the favorite to win it all again. Their one flaw is that they can lose focus at times and they will lose a match or two that leave you shaking your head.

 

Predicted record: 18-7

Playoffs: 100%

Championship: 4-1

 

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Predicting the winner of the MLP championship is very difficult. I did hit Dallas last year and D.C. the season before, so I am going for three in a row. The problem is that, to win the championship, a team has to win at least three playoff rounds. Each of those matches is very difficult and especially the semifinal and final are essentially coin flips between very good teams. I would not be surprised by any of my top six teams winning it all. But, with all that said, I am going to pick St. Louis to win it all this year.

 

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