With pickleball maintaining its position as one of the fastest growing sports around the globe, new players are finding their way to the courts each and every day.

If that’s you, then consider this your guide to the players currently at the top of the professional pickleball landscape.

Ahead of the 2026-2027 season, the PPA Tour launched the World Pickleball Rankings (WPR), a unified ranking system that tracks every player’s performance at PPA Tour events across the globe.

The WPR takes into account player performance across all three events, weighing gender doubles at 50%, mixed doubles at 35%, and singles at 15%.

Expect a women’s list soon, but for now, here are the best male pickleball players according to the World Pickleball Rankings.

Ben Johns

Johns is the most decorated male athlete in professional pickleball, leading the way with 187 total PPA titles since the tour’s inception in 2020. His smooth, methodical style has withstood the test of time, and he has remained at the top of a sport that has experienced massive changes in gameplay over the last four years. The 27-year-old holds several PPA Tour records, perhaps most impressively the fact that he was won at least one title at his last 58 Tour events.

Gabe Tardio

Hailing from Bolivia, this 20-year-old was Ben Johns’ first call when he ended his partnership with Collin Johns ahead of the 2025 season. That’s for good reason—Tardio is one of the players credited with redefining the role of the right-side player in doubles, transforming it from a ball-maker role predicated on consistency to an opportunistic position with virtually endless offensive capabilities. With a propensity for flare and some of the fastest hands in the sport, Tardio’s future prospects only grow with each passing tournament. He has 28 PPA Tour titles, with 20 of those coming alongside Johns in 2025-2026.

Christian Alshon

Alshon brings virtually unmatched athleticism and an ability to take over any match. He and Federico Staksrud (more on him below) are the only two male players who are consistently making the semifinals or better in all three events. Alshon had humble beginnings in the sport, as he built his game by doing wall drills on the squash court at the student fitness center during his senior year at the University of Chicago back in 2022, but he has flourished into one of the tour’s most physically imposing players and has ten titles to his name.

Federico Staksrud

Staksrud is the embodiment of hard work, both on and off the court. Like the aforementioned Alshon, he excels in all three events, which is evidenced by the fact that he spent most of 2024 and 2025 as the top-ranked men’s singles player on the PPA Tour (though Chris Haworth now holds that title). The Argentine shines in big moments and is known to be one of the most passionate competitors on the PPA Tour. He holds 26 career PPA titles and was named MVP of the 2026 Major League Pickleball Finals, where he helped lift the New Jersey 5s to their first championship in franchise history.

Hayden Patriquin

Patriquin’s best asset is his versatility, as he excels as both a left-side and right-side player in doubles. The newly minted 21-year-old brings an unmistakable swagger and confidence to the court, and he has what is arguably the highest ceiling of any player in professional pickleball. He has eight titles to his name, but he is expected to reach double digits before long.

JW Johnson

Referred to as the “Flick Wizard” for his devastating backhand flick, Johnson is just 24 years old but has PPA medals dating back to 2021. Known for his cool, calm, and collected demeanor on the court, Johnson is fresh off a Major League Pickleball campaign during which he played at the highest level of his career and is one of the most decorated athletes on the PPA Tour with 25 titles.