Ben Johns has been regarded as the consensus best pickleball player in the world for a couple of years. And deservedly so. He remains at the top, but the gap is narrowing.

As we see from his results in singles and men’s doubles, it is lonely at the top, with everyone gunning for you. While Anna Leigh Waters enjoys an obvious large gap between her and the #2 female player, Johns’ lead over the next best male player is not that big, and it gets closer each month. Johns cannot stay on top forever, and it is clear that the day someone catches up to and passes him is within sight.

 

The question then becomes, who will catch up and pass Johns as the next consensus best pickleball player in the world? I asked this question of a number of pros, and we came up with six candidates.

Let’s discuss them one at a time, the pros and cons of why each may or may not be the one to catch up to Johns.

 

 

The most improved player of 2023 is also one of the most improved players of 2024. He has proven he can play well in singles, men’s doubles, and mixed doubles.  He also is strong on both the right and left side. He has perhaps the best forehand topspin drop in the game, but also drives it well. He has excellent reach and length. He is very athletic, with no obvious weaknesses. The only things holding him back right now are some issues with consistency and a question on his backhand dinking. Alshon favors the one hand backhand. Pro pickleball is moving hard in the direction of the twoey, especially on the backhand dink. The backhand dink is very important, especially for men, as they will play left side so often in mixed, and the best player will play left side (assuming right-handedness). A one-hand backhand dink tends to be defensive in nature. Opponents look at a player with a one-hand backhand dink and see a safe zone; a spot where they can safely place a ball and likely not face an attack. With pro pickleball going to a more aggressive style, the twoey is going to be the predominant method for applying pressure off the backhand in the dink game. Expect to see Alshon move to use it more in the future. If someone does displace Johns in the next year, Alshon is the most likely candidate, as he is close in skill and is still improving.

 

 

 

Staksrud has displayed his skills throughout 2024, especially in singles.  He has been the most consistent singles player on the men’s side all year. His only issue in singles has been difficultly beating Johns. In men’s doubles, he has also has a lot of success, with a variety of partners. He is a dominant left side player. Staksrud has good size, speed, and athleticism. His court coverage is excellent. He has all the shots, although again like Alshon, Staksrud probably needs to add more twoey game to his backhand dinking. He does have a good flick, but he could be more of a threat off the backhand in the dink game. Staksrud has not done as well at mixed doubles as his skill set would indicate. He has settled in with Rachel Rohrabacher, and while their results are decent, they have not had a breakthrough win or tournament. Staksrud does sometimes struggle with consistency on his forehand reach volley, which is a key shot for men in mixed doubles. There is also a question about his ceiling; at 28 years old, he may not be able to improve enough to take the top spot.

 

 

 

Big H has the shots and skills to be the top player one day. He can drop, he can dink, he can drive, he can hit with good topspin, and he has both power and touch. He has a nasty backhand flick volley. At 18 years old, he obviously is young enough to improve quite a bit more. So, his ceiling is high enough for him to potentially be the #1 player one day. There are two potential roadblocks right now to Patriquin being #1. First is his size. The ideal height for a pickleball pro is probably about 6-2 or 6-3. Patriquin thus lacks the reach of a Jack Sock or an Alshon. He is extremely quick which compensates to some extent. The second issue with Patriquin is patience. Indeed, the biggest difference between Patriquin and Johns right now is not skill, it is patience. Johns is the most patient player, and that patience is a big advantage for him. Obviously, Patriquin can develop patience, so his ceiling is among the highest of any current player. It is really just up to him to decide how good he wants to be.

 

 

 

My candidate for most improved player of 2024 makes this list. Tardio has been on fire in 2024 and has improved steadily all year. He has a somewhat unorthodox game. He grips the paddle up a little toward the neck, reminiscent of a table tennis grip. It allows him to hit some very tricky, well-disguised shots. Tardio has grown physically in the last year or two and now has good length, and good court coverage. Tardio has the best counters in the game, especially when his feet are set. He is solid at dinking, although as he plays so much right side, his backhand dink can still be developed further. Tardio has progressed to where he is known as the best right side player. But, to be the best player in the world, Tardio has to be a left side player. A right-handed player, in order to be the best, simply must play left side. Tardio has shown good left side potential, such as his mixed gold medal with Jessie Irvine at the Picklr Utah Open demonstrates. Tardio, like Patriquin, is 18 and therefore should have a very high ceiling. The biggest unknown for Tardio is whether he can become a dominant left side player. There is no reason he cannot, but until we see him do it on a regular basis, in both mixed and men’s doubles, the question will remain.

 

 

 

The next player on our list is another 18-year-old and our biggest projection. Duong really burst on the scene this year when he filled in for an injured Alshon in MLP. He was later picked up on a permanent basis in MLP, and has not looked back. Up to that point, Duong had experienced some PPA success at singles, but his doubles record was spotty, at best. But, he took off when Alshon came back. They defeated the Johns brothers twice in MLP play. The duo then added a men’s doubles PPA title. Duong’s game is emblematic of where pro pickleball is going. Duong plays fast. He serves hard, he primarily drives, and he tends to look for ways to shorten the point. He has decent size and is very athletic, so court coverage is not an issue. What has held him back until recently is the soft game. His dinking had been below average. But Duong has recently developed a very aggressive twoey dink. He hits it with both topspin and force. Against Johns in recent men’s doubles matches, Duong sometimes had the better of his opponent in the dink game, something we did not see a year ago. Duong plays an effective smash and crash style. For him to continue his progress, he will need to better recognize when to back off and go slow, and he needs to develop more in the whole kitchen game. His counters and speedups are not at the level of a Tardio. Of everyone on this list, Duong probably starts the furthest behind as of today, but also has the most potential for growth.

 

 

 

Last but not least is Mr. X; a currently unknown player. Pickleball is exploding not just in the US, but also around the world. High level players did not exist in many countries just a few years ago. Now, there are 5.0s in India, Japan, England, and elsewhere. We will see more pros play on the PPA Tour who are from countries outside the US. We will also see up and coming American youngsters, players who grew up on pickleball. Up to now, the vast majority of pros are converts from other sports, primarily tennis. Soon, we will have pros who started pickleball at age 3 or 4. The #1 player in the world in 2029 is likely someone we currently have never heard of. Will that day come sooner than 2029? Maybe much sooner? It will be fun to watch for.  

 

Who is your pick to be the next consensus #1 player in the world?

 

Follow me on Twitter/X @pickleball_jim.