The final tournament of the 2025-26 PPA year happens this week in beautiful San Clemente, California at the Toys “R” Us PPA Finals.

 

The top eight men’s and women’s singles players and top 16 men’s and women’s doubles players will compete to be declared year-end champions.

 

The players are divided into two, four-player (or teams for doubles) pools. Each player (or team) will play three matches in pool play, once against each of their three pool opponents. The top two players (or teams) advance to the semifinals for medal round play.

 

The weather is perfect, the Life Time facility is arguably the best one on tour, and the players are the very best. Be ready for the best play of the year, as we will go over both pools in each of the five events and see if we can predict who will move on to medal play.

 

 

Pool 1: (1) Ben Johns/Gabe Tardio; (2) JW Johnson/CJ Klinger; (3) Dylan Frazier/Eric Oncins; (4) Connor Garnett/Riley Newman

In each pool, round one starts with the #1 seed playing the #4 seed, while #2 plays #3. In round two, #1 plays #2 and #3 plays #4. In the third and final match of pool play, #1 plays #3 and #2 plays #4. Top two teams advance. In case of a tie, head-to-head is the first tiebreaker, then point differential. This means every match matters, especially the key #2 vs. #3 match in round one. Further, because point differential can come into play with a three-way tie, every point matters.

 

In men’s doubles, Pool One is much stronger than Pool Two. Right off the bat, Johnson/Klinger play Frazier/Oncins in a match that likely will determine which team advances. Garnett/Newman could play spoiler, but are likely to go 0-3, so Johnson/Klinger vs. Frazier/Oncins is one of the most important matches of the whole tournament. Look for a very tight, three-game match. That one is pretty much a coin flip, but I will take Frazier/Oncins to move on with Johns/Tardio.

 

Pool 2: (1) Hayden Patriquin/Christian Alshon; (2) Federico Staksrud/Andrei Daescu; (3) Noe Khlif/Tyson McGuffin; (4) Jaume Martinez Vich/Jay Devilliers

 

Barring a pretty big upset, it is hard to see the #3 or #4 teams getting to the medal round. I do not expect Khlif/McGuffin to win a match; Martinez Vich/Devilliers are capable of a big upset, but the top two teams are very steady. If there is an upset, we could see three teams finish 1-2, which would make point differential matter. But I will stick with Patriquin/Alshon and Staksrud/Daescu to advance. When those two teams play, expect a real dogfight, as winning this pool means the team does not have to play Johns/Tardio in the semifinals.

 

 

 

Pool 1: (1) Anna Leigh Waters/Anna Bright; (2) Catherine Parenteau/Jade Kawamoto; (3) Meghan Dizon/Alix Truong; (4) Ting Chieh Wei/Kate Fahey

 

One of the fun things about the PPA Finals is that we see some partnerships that rarely, if ever, are seen during the rest of the year. Here, the 2, 3, and 4 seeds are all unusual, so it makes this pool unpredictable. Obviously, Waters/Bright will advance, but it will be tough going for the second spot. I could easily see a three-way tie here, meaning that which team scores the most points against Waters/Bright will have an advantage. Look for Parenteau/Kawamoto to get the second spot, although the Dizon/Truong pairing is a high ceiling, low floor team that could surprise.

 

Pool 2: (1) Tyra Black/Jorja Johnson; (2) Parris Todd/Rachel Rohrabacher; (3) Tina Pisnik/Lacy Schneemann; (4) Zoey Wang/Kaitlyn Christian

 

Black and Johnson have not been playing as well lately as they did in 2025, but should advance here. With that said, they are one of the more vulnerable #1 pool seeds. I like Todd/Rohrabacher to win the pool, which is important to avoid Waters/Bright in the semifinals. Pisnik/Schneemann have a puncher’s chance for the upset; Pisnik will be steady, and it will depend how well the inconsistent Schneemann can play.

 

 

 

Pool 1: (1) Anna Leigh Waters/Ben Johns; (2) Rachel Rohrabacher/Christian Alshon; (3) Catherine Parenteau/Gabe Tardio; (4) Tina Pisnik/Federico Staksrud

 

Both mixed pools are tough, with Pool One being especially tough top to bottom. Expect Waters/Johns to go 3-0, and the other three have an excellent chance of splitting to all end up 1-2. This pool has the best chance of any pool to have a three-way tie. Thus, every point really matters in these matches. Tardio is playing the best pickleball this side of Ben Johns, so I will pick his team to advance with Waters/Johns.

 

Pool 2: (1) Anna Bright/Hayden Patriquin; (2) Jorja Johnson/JW Johnson; (3) Tyra Black/Andrei Daescu; (4) Jessie Irvine/Eric Oncins

 

Another tough pool. Black has upped her right side game. Oncins in playing very, very well. The top two seeds are tough, but vulnerable against this competition. This pool has the best chance of any doubles pool to see the #3 and #4 seeds advance, although I will go with Bright/Patriquin and Black/Daescu.

 

 

 

Pool 1: (1) Chris Haworth; (2) Christian Alshon; (3) Connor Garnett; (4) Jack Sock

 

What a pool! Haworth and Sock have an advantage in that they are here solely to play singles, while Alshon and Garnett have doubles events to play. Any of the four could advance, but I like Haworth and Sock to make it.

Pool 2: (1) Federico Staksrud; (2) Hunter Johnson; (3) Roscoe Bellamy; (4) John Lucian Goins

 

Another tough pool, with Staksrud the only one who also has to play doubles. Will that impede his ability to advance? Staksrud is a tremendous competitor, so I like him and Johnson to advance.

 

 

Pool 1: (1) Kate Fahey; (2) Lea Jansen; (3) Catherine Parenteau; (4) Liz Truluck

 

Anna Leigh Waters withdrew from singles, so this event is now wide open. The opening round match of Jansen vs. Parenteau will likely determine who moves on with Fahey. I like Jansen, but it will be a close one.

 

Pool 2: (1) Kaitlyn Christian; (2) Brooke Buckner; (3) Zoey Wang; (4) Judit Castillo 

 

Christian and Buckner will be big favorites to move on, but singles is more unpredictable than doubles, so an upset is certainly possible. I will go with the top two to move on.

 

Pool play is a fun change of pace this week. It starts on Wednesday and each round is crucial. The #2 vs. #3 matches on the first day will go a long way to determine who moves on.

 

 

Come on out to Life Time if you can. If not, watch it all on Pickleballtv.

 

Follow me for updates on X @pickleball_jim.