On Wednesday, we took a look at where the top 20 women stood. Today, it is the men’s turn. Let’s see who is moving up the list. These rankings are updated from the beginning of the year.

1. Ben Johns (previously #1). No change at the top. The one knock on Johns concerns his level of effort. At times, such as MLP, he seems to be on cruise control. However, his recent switch to playing with Gabe Tardio has given him renewed energy. When Johns plays his Sunday best, he remains the best in the game.

2. Christian Alshon (previously #3). Alshon continues to improve. He was the most improved player in 2023, and he was in the running for most improved in 2024. He is now the most likely candidate to supplant Johns at the top. That gap has narrowed, but a gap does remain.

3. Andrei Daescu (previously #7). There is a small gap after Alshon, but the players at 3-7 are all very close. You could flip any of them up or down in that range and not be wrong. Daescu is the one person who can play left side and potentially out-dink Johns. His men’s doubles play has been incredible and he has improved at mixed, despite playing with partners not as good as the rest of the top seven.

4. Federico Staksrud (previously #2). Staksrud is very good at all three events, although he has recently slipped slightly at singles, due to tougher competition. His mixed doubles results could be better.

5. JW Johnson (previously #4). Johnson has improved at mixed doubles recently. His issue had been lack of aggressiveness, but he has amped up his poaching and that has improved his results. He has struggled slightly at men’s doubles (by his standards) since splitting with Dylan Frazier.

 

6. Gabe Tardio (previously #6). Tardio recently took home two singles golds, one against a tough field. He seems to have settled in with Johns in men’s doubles. He also has some success at mixed, despite playing with Jessie Irvine, whose game just is not at the same level as the mixed partners of the other top seven men.

7. Hayden Patriquin (previously #6). Patriquin is near the top of the heap in men’s doubles, playing with Staksrud. His mixed results lag a little bit.

8. Will Howells (previously #9). Howells remains the toughest of the top players to evaluate, due to his not playing top competition year round. It will be good to see him in MLP play, and come 2026, it will be great to see him on the PPA Tour. Who will he partner with?

9. Dekel Bar (previously #12). Bar has been playing very well and very consistently in 2025 in both men’s and mixed doubles. The gap between the top seven and the rest of the top 10 is small.

10. Dylan Frazier (previously #11). Frazier has been kind of up and down in 2025. His men’s doubles results have suffered some since his split with JW Johnson. It has been reported that the split was caused at least in part by a desire by Frazier to play left side. But, his best results have come from playing right side with others, such as Eric Oncins. Frazier is best suited to play active right side men’s doubles, similar to Tardio. Frazier would benefit from going back to playing with Johnson and stick to the right side. He would also be a great fit to play with Howells.

 

11. Tyson McGuffin (previously #13). McGuffin just hangs around. He is a very tough competitor and very versatile. He gets underestimated and then there he is, making the semifinals in a tournament. He is likely to drop, slowly, in the rankings but not quite yet.

12. CJ Klinger (previously #14). Klinger is now the best lefty in the game. He is good enough to beat people ranked below him, but has not been able to break through much against the top 10. In mixed, he needs to be more aggressive and get better partners.

13. Riley Newman (previously #8). Newman just has not had good success in 2025. His split from Matt Wright was the correct move, but he has not found solid success with his partners in 2025. He tends to be able to make it to the quarterfinals of events, but no further. It appears that his opponents have figured out a good strategy when playing him. He may need to make some changes in his game to improve.

14. Pablo Tellez (previously #10). Tellez is solid if unspectacular in men’s doubles. He is easy to play with, and many players will willingly play with him, as they can then play left side. His mixed doubles results in 2025 are lagging.

15. Eric Oncins (previously unranked). Oncins is my big mover in the rankings. His win with Frazier over Alshon/Daescu in North Carolina was an eye opener for many. However, for me it was seeing his play in Mesa with Matt Wright. We are going to be seeing more of Oncins in the later rounds of tournaments in 2025. Other players should be looking to partner up with his potential.

16. Connor Garnett (previously #17). Garnett is top 5 in singles and solid in doubles. He is another player whose upside in doubles will usually be the quarterfinals.

17. Augie Ge (previously #15). Ge is similar to Tellez. Both good guys and lefties, so never at a loss for partners. Not likely to medal, but also not likely to get beat early in an event.

18. Jaume Martinez Vich (previously #19). JMV is best at singles and his weakest event is mixed doubles. Like many of the players in the 12-20 range, he is unlikely to win a medal at doubles, but is good enough to win a couple rounds.

19. James Ignatowich (previously #18). Ignatowich is hard to evaluate. He had been a top 10 player back in 2023, dropped a fair amount in 2024 in part due to injuries, started slow in 2025, but now has shown some recent flashes of his old self. He has potential to get back to the top 10, so he is someone to watch closely in 2025.

20. Noe Khlif (previously unranked). Khlif is pretty good at singles, mixed doubles and men’s doubles. He has excellent speed and athleticism, but lacks a little bit of consistent power. His drives and passing shots need improvement. He is pretty good all around, so there is definitely potential for him to move up.

 

Just missing the top 20: Quang Duong, Hunter Johnson, Zane Navratil, Tyler Loong. There is not a lot of difference between the players ranked 16-20 and this next set of players.

 

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