We’re now several months into 2026, so The Kitchen staff put our heads together — with the help of an anonymous pro — to come up with a current list of the Top 20 women’s singles players who compete on the PPA Tour.

We set some general guidelines to help us make some very tough decisions:

– Ranking is based on early 2026 results + input from our pro player consultant on who they would least like to see on their side of the draw in a tournament.

– Medals mean more than points. This is where our list differs from the official PPA Tour points standings. If Player A consistently makes “good” runs but rarely gets past the quarterfinals, while Player B is less consistent but has better “peak” weeks, we give the edge to Player B.

– A win in a “Slam” carries more weight than a win in a “Cup” or “Open” event, similar to other individual sports like golf or tennis.

Our ranking of the top 20 men’s singles players — which we made with the help of a men’s pro — can be found here.

Looking for our doubles rankings?

The Kitchen’s Top 20 men’s doubles players – November 2025
The Kitchen’s Top 20 women’s doubles players – November 2025

The Kitchen’s Top 20 women’s singles players – April 2026

1. Anna Leigh Waters – It’s not close at the top of women’s singles. Waters has 5 gold medals and counting this season, and hasn’t lost in more than 680 days as of this writing. Get her paddle.

2. Kate Fahey – She has established herself as the clear No. 2, making it to four finals so far in 2026. She has lost to Waters in each of those finals, but did take Game 1 off of Waters in their most recent meeting at the Greater Zion Cup. Get her paddle.

3. Kaitlyn Christian – There was a time last year when she was making a case for the No. 2 spot, but Fahey has separated at this point. Still, Christian has had a good season, with a gold at the Cape Coral Open (Waters didn’t play singles in that event) and a gold at the MB Hanoi Cup in Vietnam last week, which had a strong field that included many U.S.-based players. Get her paddle.

⬆️ 4. Lea Jansen (previously No. 6) – She’s been having a bit of a resurgence this year, with impressive wins over Fahey, Christian and Brooke Buckner, who is next on this list. She has two silvers and two bronze medals on the year, and if not for Christian’s gold in Cape Coral, I think you could make an argument for Jansen to be No. 3 on this list. Get her paddle.

5. Brooke Buckner – She only has one medal in U.S. PPA events this year (a bronze at the Mesa Cup) but is coming off of a silver at the MB Hanoi Cup in Vietnam — she beat Fahey in the semifinals of that event. Get her paddle. 

⬆️ 6. Genie Bouchard (previously No. 7) – She’s only played in three tournaments so far this year, with a silver in Cape Coral and two quarterfinal appearances. But she moves up one spot because the next player on our list has played even less. Get her paddle.

⬇️ 7. Parris Todd (previously No. 4) – She has only played one singles event this year, and she won it. But she said after her gold at the Indoor National Championships that she was taking a step back from singles, and she hasn’t played since. We’re giving it some time before we take her off the list completely. Get her paddle.

8. Catherine Parenteau – Her best finish this year is a 4th at the Cape Coral Open, but she’s still regularly making it to the quarterfinals or better. 

⬆️ 9. Zoey Wang (previously No. 10) – Her results are very similar to Parenteau’s — she has a fourth place finish (at the Mesa Cup) and two other quarterfinal appearances on the year.

⬆️ 10. Liz Truluck (previously No. 14) – She had a huge tournament to start the year, with a bronze at the PPA Masters. She beat Wang, Buckner and Christian in that event, but she hasn’t made it past the Round of 16 since.

11. Kiora Kunimoto (previously unranked)

⬇️ 12. Judit Castillo (previously No. 9)

⬇️ 13. Mary Brascia (previously No. 11)

⬇️ 14. Jorja Johnson (previously No. 12)

⬆️ 15. Lingwei Kong (previously unranked)

⬆️ 16. Milan Rane (previously unranked)

⬆️ 17. Cailyn Campbell (previously unranked)

⬆️ 18. Ting Chieh Wei (previously unranked)

⬆️ 19. Isabella Dunlap (previously unranked)

⬆️ 20. Mari Humberg (previously unranked)

Notably absent: Salome Devidze (previously No. 13), Lara Giltinan (previously No. 15), Angie Walker (previously No. 16), Cleo Bond (previously No. 17), Dominique Schaefer (previously No. 18), Hannah Blatt (previously No. 19), Lina Padegimaite (previously No. 20).