We are now done with the first quarter of the year in pro pickleball, so time to update the rankings. Who is moving up? Who is dropping? Today, we will start with the top 20 women, and will follow with the men next.

 

1. Anna Leigh Waters (previous rank #1). No surprise here. Still the best, although she has not played up to her standards in 2025, and the competition has closed the gap some in doubles.

2. Jorja Johnson (previously #3). Johnson is young and continues to improve. Her two hand backhand is sneaky. She is good at all facets of the game, especially counters.

3. Anna Bright (previously #2). Close call between Johnson and Bright. Johnson’s success lately at mixed gives her the slight edge. Bright needs to settle on one mixed partner and stick with them. If I were her, I would go with Christian Alshon or Andrei Daescu.

4. Tyra Black (previously #8). Black is a big mover since the start of 2025. Her defense has been outstanding and she has shown excellent power. She has primarily been able to play left side, which plays to her strengths.

5. Catherine Parenteau (previously #4). Parenteau drops a spot. She could fall further in 2025, not having the benefit of playing with Waters. Parenteau remains highly skilled, but needs to find more offense. She needs to find the right partner for women’s doubles going forward. If I were her, I would go with Etta Tuionetoa, as Parenteau needs to play right side.

 

6. Parris Todd (previously #11). Another one who makes a good move up. She has improved a lot in singles, and has good success in doubles when on the right side. The players ranked 6-11 are all very close in skill.

7. Kate Fahey (previously #6). Fahey continues to improve in singles, but her improvement in doubles has not been as fast as I expected. She is getting better partners, but her results have not as yet jumped as much as they should. I do still expect her to get significantly better doubles results by the end of 2025.

8. Rachel Rohrabacher (previously #5). Rohrabacher has not been able to achieve high success in mixed doubles. Sometimes, gender doubles success is due to having a top partner, so results in mixed are an important factor to look at in determining a player’s skill. Just look at Collin Johns’ record when playing with Ben Johns versus his record in mixed doubles over the same time span. It will be interesting to see how Rohrabacher does the rest of 2025 without the benefit of playing with Bright. A drop out of the top 10 is possible.

9. Etta Tuionetoa (previously #10). Tuionetoa was close to top 5 in early 2024, but faded a bit as the year went on. She has now started to show flashes of that better version of herself. I expect Tuionetoa to move up as the year goes along.

10. Tina Pisnik (previously #7). Pisnik is still solid, but has dropped just a little bit. She is 44 years old and an age-related drop would not be surprising. She tends to play a little too much on the left side; she is better off on the right, as she lacks some shots that are needed to play a strong left side.

 

11. Lea Jansen (previously #9). Jansen has been steady and has been doing well in her return to singles play. In doubles, she struggles to get past the quarters, but usually does get that far. Solid, steady, but unspectacular.

12. Jackie Kawamoto (previously #12). Kawamoto is the definition of steady. An excellent defender, she meshes well with her partners.

13. Lacy Schneemann (previously #17). Schneemann is sort of the opposite of Jackie Kawamoto. She has a higher ceiling, but a lower floor. If she can be more consistent, she can move up.

14. Meghan Dizon (previously #20). Dizon is one of the big moves on the list. She was very good in 2023, but dropped off in 2024. She now looks to be getting back to her prior form. A big question will be how she will handle the pressure of playing MLP with Waters. Playing with the #1 player is not easy. New Jersey’s season will really rest on how well Dizon plays.

15. Vivian Glozman (previously unranked). Glozman has shown a lot of talent. She has excellent reach and power. She has started to be a bit more consistent, but inconsistency is still her Achilles heel. She has had some contract issues, but hopefully will be on the court more and also draw good partners. She has a high ceiling.

 

16. Zoey Wang (previously #16). Wang continues to improve and has made some good runs in singles. Her steady partnership with Brooke Buckner should pay dividends. A solid left side player.

17. Jessie Irvine (previously #14). A decent but not flashy right side player, Irvine has had good results in mixed with Gabe Tardio.

18. Vivienne David (previously #15). David still has not been the same player since Thomas Wilson had his health issues. David has had mediocre results in both women’s doubles and mixed doubles. Her skills should not have diminished, so there is room for improvement here.

19. Allyce Jones (previously unranked). Jones is a very good defensive player, who gives it her all every point of every match. She is fun to watch, but her high side is limited due to her relative lack of power.

20. Kaitlyn Christian (previously unranked). Christian has made a big leap up in singles. For women’s doubles, she seems to finally have a steady partnership with Christa Gecheva that is paying off. Her dinking, resets, and counters need work, so her right side play in mixed is still a work in progress.

 

Close, but not top 20: Mari Humberg, Brooke Buckner, Mary Brascia and Maggie Brascia, Callie Smith.

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