Worlds lived up to its billing as the biggest and best pickleball tournament anywhere, and there was no end of major stories. Tama Shimabukuro gets his first domestic gold medal in men’s doubles, Ben Johns and Gabe Tardio lose again, John Lucian Goins makes his claim for the top spot in men’s singles, and Anna Leigh Waters makes it triple crown number 10,000 in a row (or so it seems).

1. It was Tama time in Dallas

Tama Shimabukuro has, at 15 years old, been a major story in pro pickleball now for more than a year. His talent has been obvious, but the results have been somewhat hard to come by. He had a spotty 2026 MLP season but came out of it with the news that he would partner with JW Johnson in men’s doubles for the upcoming PPA season. I had my doubts this partnership would work, as Shimabukuro has been better on the left than the right side he would play with Johnson. In addition, Shimabukuro has been attackable, with a tendency to get jammed by speedups straight at him.

But Worlds answered all the critics and all the questions, at least for now. Shimabukuro and Johnson benefitted from a favorable draw and then played well all the way to the finals, where they took on Christian Alshon and Andrei Daescu. Shimabukuro and Johnson dropped the first two games, but with Worlds being best three of five, they came back to sweep the next three games and take the title. Johnson played brilliantly all week, continuing the high level play he showed at 2026 MLP, where he was arguably the best player all season. Johnson was again the best player in Dallas. Shimabukuro did his part all week. In the final, he raised his level from game three on, flashing some crafty inside out speedups to go along with solid dinking and defense.

Johnson and Shimabukuro focused on Alshon, essentially freezing out Daescu on the right. Alshon played well but was outdueled by both Johnson and Shimabukuro from game three on. With this win, Johnson and Shimabukuro have forced themselves into a new ‘Big Four’ conversation with Johns/Tardio, Alshon/Daescu and Hayden Patriquin/Federico Staksrud. It will be interesting to see if those four teams dominate the semifinal spots for the rest of 2026.

2. Is Ben Johns done?

The question is absurd, but not if you read what has been on social media. We are so used to Ben and Gabe winning that them going several tournaments without a win is strikingly odd. Lots of people on X and other social media sites are saying Ben is done, or that Ben should dump Gabe, or that Gabe should dump Ben, or 100 other silly theories. Two things can be true at once: Ben Johns is the best player, and the rest of the world is catching up. It happens to every #1 player, no matter how dominant they are and no matter how long they have been dominant for. Eventually, the field catches up.

Ben Johns remains the best player on the planet, but pro pickleball is and has been changing. The paddles are more explosive and the ball bounces higher. This combination creates a faster game, where groundstrokes in singles are more effective and speedups at the kitchen line in doubles are more effective.

Johns’ style in doubles is and always has been defensive in nature. He drops more than he drives, and his drives are just a tool to get an easier drop off a fifth shot. He wants to get comfortably to the kitchen line and win the rally from there. At the kitchen line, his play is almost entirely defensive in nature. He will dink with his opponents all day long, figuring the opponents are more likely than he is to miss a dink. He rarely speeds up off the bounce. His offense at the line is almost entirely limited to backhand roll volleys or other shots that take advantage of an opponent leaving a dink up too high.

If we go back three years, Ben Johns’ style meshed perfectly with that of Collin Johns. Collin, like Ben, was willing to dink all day, and await a mistake from his opponents. Ben switched away from Collin specifically to find a ‘new age' right-side partner who could supply some offense. While Tardio is more offensively oriented than Collin Johns, he still is not anywhere near the top end in terms of the most offensively oriented right-side players.

For Ben Johns’ own play, I predict he will adjust. But, unlike the social media discourse, the answer is not ditching Tardio or other amusingly wrong takes. The adjustment is that Johns needs to add more offensive shots to his arsenal, as we have seen happen with other top players. If you go back two years, JW Johnson never sped up off the bounce with forehands at the kitchen line. Now, he is a threat to do so. Ben Johns rarely, if ever, speeds up off the bounce on either wing. He needs to follow JW’s example to occasionally speed up off the bounce on the forehand. On the backhand side, he has adjusted by hitting twoeys off the bounce, something he never did just a couple years ago. Now, he needs to add the twoey speedup off the bounce, a shot employed by a ‘new-age’ player like Elliott Schupp.

Ben Johns is still the best overall player. But pickleball is changing, new players are entering the sport, some veteran players are fading, and if any player wants to stay on top, they need to adjust. We have seen top players like JW Johnson and Christian Alshon add more offense to their games. It is now up to Ben Johns to adjust in response.

3. Anna Leigh Waters keeps it going

While change is the name of the game on the men’s side, the women’s game is the same: all Waters, all the time. Waters won as usual in singles, and in her usual dominating fashion. She won all 12 games she played and lost only 26 points across her six matches. Of the 12 games, only one had an opponent score more than three points! That is taking domination to a new level.

In women’s doubles, Waters and partner Anna Bright were not challenged at all until the final. In their four matches leading up to the final, Waters and Bright lost only 17 points in eight games. The final against Sofia Sewing and Catherine Parenteau was closer, but again, Waters and Bright did not lose a game.

Waters’ third gold was in mixed doubles with Ben Johns. Waters and Johns cruised fairly easily into the final. But the mixed final proved to be the one final that really challenged Waters. The opponents were the brother-sister duo of Jorja Johnson and JW Johnson. They split the first four games, sending it to a deciding fifth game. Waters and Johns found another gear for the decider, winning it 11-4.

Unlike the men’s side, where the top 5-10 players are relatively even, the women’s side has a very clear #1, with a big gap to #2, and then another gap to #3. This results in singles and women’s doubles going easily to Waters (and Bright). Mixed doubles is closer, but Waters gives her side the clear edge. 

Eventually, the field will catch up to Waters. Babe Ruth had more home runs than any other TEAM one year in baseball; Wilt Chamberlain averaged almost twenty points more than any other basketball player one year; Don Hutson in the NFL had more receptions one year than the next three highest players combined. All of these dominant players eventually were caught and passed by the rest of the league. It will happen to Waters one day, although it is awfully hard to see that day coming any time soon.

Next up is the Proton Daytona Beach Open that will start November 16. It will be televised, as usual, on Pickleballtv.

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