Top 4 overall storylines in New York:

• Will the St. Louis Shock’s 3-year championship quest finally end victoriously?

• Will Anna Leigh Waters propel her New Jersey Fives to the one trophy she has yet to claim in pickleball?

• Will the Brooklyn Pickleball Team rise to the occasion in their backyard and claim their first full season title?

• Will the resurgent Dallas Flash continue to stun the pickleball world and win their 2nd title in 3 years?

Two BONUS storylines:

• Will the Fives’ selection of the Brooklyn Pickleball team prove to be the right one? As the #1 seed, they got to choose between Brooklyn and Dallas.

• Match 2 of the Finals will be on CBS national starting at noon Eastern time on Sunday, August 30th. 

Storylines per matchup in New York: 

SEMIFINAL #1: FIVES VS. FIVE SEED

New Jersey Fives (1) vs. Brooklyn Pickleball Team (5)

New Jersey Fives: Several key questions for the #1 seed:                                              

1- After a winless weekend in Newport, will Noe Khlif and Anna Leigh Waters continue together or might Will Howells get an opportunity?  

2- Will Federico Staksrud and Will Howells be rejuvenated by their strong final game against the Palm Beach Royals?      

3- Is there any scenario where Staksrud plays with Waters?

4- Will the challenges faced in Newport Beach actually galvanize the Fives?

Brooklyn Pickleball Team: Brooklyn heads home and will have a raucous crowd supporting them. The key questions:

1- How big will two weeks off be for the health of the entire squad and Rachel Rohrabacher specifically?                                                                                         

2- Can Christian Alshon go beast mode, take over, and win both of his games each match?                             

3- If a match goes to a DreamBreaker, can Chris Haworth find his dominant PPA form? He has played the second most DreamBreaker points this year and has won just 51.8% of them, ranking 41st overall.                                                                         

SEMIFINAL #2: SHOCK ‘N’ AUSSIE

St. Louis Shock (2) vs. Dallas Flash (6)

St. Louis Shock: By far the most dominant team in Newport Beach. They boast 4 of the top 6 MLP players in overall game winning percentage: Gabe Tardio (2), Kate Fahey (4), Hayden Patriquin (5), & Anna Bright (6). Fahey and Tardio did not have to play mixed after two sweeps of the Texas Ranchers in California. Two questions:

1- Can they shake the ghosts and expectations of semis past as this is the round they lost in the last 2 years?                                                                                                        

2- Is the lack of adversity in Newport Beach actually a bad thing?                               

Dallas Flash: Almost everything that could go wrong did at the Austin event for this team earlier in the regular season and yet they persevered and punched their ticket to NYC. Questions:                                                                                                   

1: Can JW “Freak Show” Johnson be the difference maker? When the Flash needed JW the most, he won his 2 head to head showdowns in the quarterfinals decider vs. Ben Johns and the Mad Drops. 

2: Will the energy of Danni-Elle Townsend and Alix Truong continue to provide a boost both on and off the court as the stakes rise?  

3: Will the Texas-sized chip on their shoulders be the difference to fuel another emotional semifinal win over the Shock as they did in 2024 (with a different lineup)?