We previously talked about the top five women, so now the men get their turn. The PPA points have Federico Staksrud at the top in men’s doubles for the first time, but does he make the top of today’s list? Let’s dive into the top five, starting with #5 and working our way to #1.

 

At #5, I have Gabe Tardio. Tardio has certainly been in the news lately. The much-publicized fact Ben Johns has asked Tardio to play men’s doubles with him elevated Tardio’s status. But, Tardio has been on the rise for most of 2024. Early in 2024, Tardio was drafted #24 in MLP, the 14th man taken. Looking back, that was quite a bargain. During 2024, Tardio was very successful in men’s doubles, especially playing with Andrei Daescu. In mixed, Tardio had a breakthrough performance, winning gold with Jessie Irvine. Late in 2024, Tardio started to be talked about as the best right side player in the game. Tardio brings a level of offense to the traditionally defense oriented right side. His counters are among the best in the game, a trait that is increasingly important in an increasingly offense oriented game. He is a solid dinker, with his unusual grip (more ping pong than tennis in style) allowing him to disguise his speedups. Tardio is on the rise.

 

 

The #4 player is JW Johnson. Johnson had another solid year in 2024. He had excellent results in men’s and mixed doubles. He was not as proficient in singles, but still is top 15. Perhaps his biggest achievement was leading the Dallas Flash to the 2024 MLP title. He had a great record at MLP and was named first team all-MLP. Johnson is known for his backhand flick. He has started to add some offense off the bounce on his forehand side. He has room to improve on both his forehand drive and forehand speedup. Interestingly, he has started to add a two-hand backhand in the dink game; this is important for every player, as it adds a level of disguise and offense that every player needs. Without a two-hand speedup, the player’s backhand becomes too much of a safe zone that opponents can target. One question for Johnson in 2025 concerns who he will partner with in men’s doubles, now that he has moved on from Dylan Frazier and Tardio seems likely to go with Johns. The lack of a top, steady right-side partner could hamper Johnson’s results; anyone have Christian Alshon’s phone number?

 

 

Speaking of Christian Alshon, he checks in at #3 in the rankings. Alshon was the most improved player in 2023, and he was close to being the most improved in 2024 as well. He was an MLP champion in 2023, and he led the Texas Ranchers to a playoff appearance in 2024, despite team injury issues. Indeed, injuries hampered Alshon for most of 2024; otherwise he might have been even higher in these rankings. Alshon made the move to play a lot of right side in men’s doubles in 2024. Some players are reluctant to play the right side, thinking it is somehow the lesser side; but, if you can play great right side pickleball, you will never lack for great partners. The end of 2024 saw Alshon perform very well in men’s doubles with Andrei Daescu. That is a partnership to keep an eye on. In mixed doubles, Alshon may have found a permanent partner in Tyra Black. Alshon has all the shots. He has a great drop and a great drive. He uses his length well to poach. The sky is the limit for Alshon; it would not be a big surprise for him to become #1 in the next year or two.

 

 

We now get to the top two. I have Federico Staksrud at #2 and Ben Johns still at #1. Both are obviously great players, with no big weaknesses. In singles, they play a fairly similar style. You will see both play with power (especially off the forehand side), and use cat and mouse (especially off the backhand side). Staksrud handles power players a little bit better than Johns does, due to Staksrud being a little bit better at covering the net side to side. But, head to head, Johns has the advantage. For singles, if you want to become the champ, you have to beat the champ. Johns is #1 at singles, unless and until Staksrud shows he can beat him.

 

 

In mixed doubles, Johns has the advantage again. Of course, Johns has the distinct edge with being able to play with Anna Leigh Waters. But, even with that said, Staksrud has not had results in mixed that match his results in singles or men’s doubles. Part of that is, of course, due to partners. Staksrud played most of 2024 with Rachel Rohrabacher. Rohrabacher is a solid player, but her game is better matched for women’s doubles than mixed doubles. I spent much of 2024 waiting for Staksrud/Rohrabacher to have a breakthrough tournament, but it never happened. Thus, in my 2025 predictions done at the end of 2024, I predicted Staksrud would move on from Rohrabcher. I thought he might try Kate Fahey. It now looks like half that prediction may come true, with Staksrud and Catherine Parenteau teaming up at The Masters to get a silver medal. I suspect those two will stay together for 2025 and will have success. But, can they beat Ben/ALW? That is the big test.

 

In men’s doubles, Staksrud has enjoyed a lot of recent success with Hayden Patriquin. They racked up several golds at the end of 2024, and won silver at The Masters. Of course, they did lose at The Masters to Ben and Collin Johns, who were perhaps motivated a lot by it being seen as their last tournament together. Will Johns do well with Tardio? Most of the pickleball world is expecting Johns/Tardio to dominate. I am not so sure. You never know how a partnership will play together until they play together. We all would have thought that JW Johnson/Tardio would be a great combo, yet in the two events they played together, they did not meet expectations. We can expect to see several finals in 2025 matching Johns/Tardio v Staksrud/Patriquin. Those matches could determine who is seen as the top dog at the end of 2025.

 

For now, I give the edge to Ben Johns. But, as I said in my 2025 predictions, I do think 2025 is the last year that Ben will be seen as the consensus best player in pickleball. Whether someone else takes the spot in 2026, or we just have a lot of arguments about who is #1 because there are multiple candidates, remains to be seen.

 

Just missing the top 5 are Patriquin and Daescu. Both are playing very well. The gap between #1 and #7 is not very large. This is great for pickleball fans, as it ensures that we will see fantastic matches among very top players even in the quarterfinals and semifinals. The next 10 players are all very good too, and quite capable of upsetting the top five. It all makes for an exciting 2025. I don’t know about you, but I can’t wait to watch all year.

 

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