The Greater Zion Cup at Black Desert Resort finished up, and the result was another triple for Anna Leigh Waters and another double for Ben Johns. The fifth gold medal went to Chris Haworth in men’s singles. But there was another star of the show and that was the venue itself, which proved to be a very worthy addition to the PPA Tour schedule.

 

 

The result of the Greater Zion Cup was a little different from the other 2026 PPA tournaments, as Anna Leigh Waters won women’s singles, women’s doubles (with Anna Bright) and mixed doubles (with Ben Johns). In addition to his mixed doubles win, Johns added a second gold in men’s doubles with Gabe Tardio. The Mesa Cup remains the only 2026 tournament where Waters and Johns have suffered a defeat, with that one coming in mixed doubles. Otherwise, the golds have all gone to Waters and Johns, when entered.

 

Waters, in particular, continues to bedevil opponents. The statistic this week that stands out is in women’s doubles. Waters and Bright played five matches, with 11 total games. Across those 11 games, they lost only 15 points! That means opponents were scoring less than 1.5 points per game.

 

It is worth noting that Kate Fahey won a game in singles from Waters. That has been a rarity the last two years.

 

 

 

After previous world #1 singles player Hunter Johnson suffered an unexpected Round of 32 loss to JW Johnson, the door was open for #2 Federico Staksrud or #3 Chris Haworth to pass him for the #1 singles ranking with a first place finish. Both Staksrud and Haworth made the final, so we had a showdown for #1. Haworth prevailed 11-9, 11-5, to claim the top spot.

 

What made the men’s singles final so interesting was the contrast in styles. Men’s singles has changed a lot from just two or three years ago. Previously, everyone pretty much played the same style; hit the serve return and follow it in to the kitchen line. Pressure rates of players (how often they came to the kitchen line) always exceeded 50%, as they came to the line on every serve return point, and came to the line on service points whenever possible, especially during any cat and mouse point.

 

 

With newer and more powerful paddles and a faster ball, pressure rates began dropping. Indeed, several players developed a singles style based primarily on passing shots and thus stayed back far more often. Staksrud still plays “old school” singles, while Haworth is a great example of “new school” singles.

 

The statistics from the match show the vast difference in play styles. When serving, Staksrud came to the line 21 of 34 points, or .618, while Haworth came in 8 of 34 or .235. When Haworth served, Staksrud consistently came right to the line behind his return, 36 of 41 points, .878. Haworth came in on his service points 1 of 41 points, or .024. Taking into account all points, Staksrud came to the line 57 of 75, .760, while Haworth came in 9 of 75, .120. In other words, Staksrud came in to the kitchen line over six times as often as Haworth. That is quite a striking difference in style. 

 

It will be interesting to see if the Haworth style begins to predominate in men’s singles. Right now, it is very mixed. Some players stay back a lot, including Hunter Johnson. But most players still come in to the kitchen line with great frequency, and on nearly all of their opponent’s service points (Christian Alshon, Dylan Frazier, and Jack Sock, to name a few). Will the success of Haworth and Johnson influence more players to stay back? Or are they unicorns? Time will tell.

 

 

 

The Greater Zion Cup was the first pickleball event held at the new pickleball complex at the Black Desert Resort. The staff did a great job to get the courts ready. If you did not have an opportunity to go to the event, I would encourage you to put it on your schedule for next year. The entire resort sits on an ancient lava field, so everything had to be sculpted from the rock. The bright green fairways of the golf course provide a striking contrast to the black lava rock. The resort creators had to clear the lava rock wherever they wanted to put a building or a parking lot or a pickleball court. The surrounding area remains the original black lava rock, with high red rock formations in the distance. It is something worth seeing!

 

 

Next up on the PPA Tour is the PPA Asia 1000 Hanoi Cup starting April 1. After that, we are back in the US for the Sacramento Open on April 13. All the events will be on Pickleballtv.

 

Follow me on X @pickleball_jim.