2026 Pickleball World Championships: Draws, schedule and TV information
The biggest pickleball event on the calendar is here: The 2026 Pickleball World Championships.
The annual tournament, which features thousands of amateurs and hundreds of pro players, started Monday with pro qualifying. Matches will continue throughout the week leading up to Championship Sunday.
The event is held at Brookhaven Country Club in the Dallas suburb of Farmers Branch, Texas, which has both outdoor and covered courts and more than 50 courts total.
The event has become known for its “Pickleball Boulevard” that features dozens of vendors, pop-up courts in the street and a stage for live entertainment. It’s the world’s largest pickleball festival each year, and last year Worlds set new attendance, participation and viewership records for pro pickleball.
PICKLEBALL WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS – GENERAL INFO
For the pros, Worlds is also the most important tournament on the PPA Tour schedule, with 3,000 ranking points on the line for the winners in each division. Main draw matches will start Tuesday, with one round in every division to be played each day through Championship Sunday.
Below is a closer look at the draws in each division as well as the match schedule and broadcast information for each day.
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Pickleball World Championships schedule
Every day of the main draw is live on PickleballTV, from the Round of 64 through Championship Sunday.
Pickleball World Championships draws and storylines
MEN’S DOUBLES
THE FAVORITES
No. 1 Ben Johns/Gabe Tardio: They’re on a bit of a skid right now, having lost the past two tournaments they’ve played together (the Las Vegas Open and the Hong Kong Slam). Worlds is a great opportunity to get back on track and show that they’re still the team to beat in men’s doubles. But if they lose for the third straight tournament, it will raise even more questions about this duo moving forward.
No. 2 Hayden Patriquin/Federico Staksrud: They’re coming off a win over Johns/Tardio in the final of the Hong Kong Slam and they are the defending champs in this event. Patriquin is looking to make it three straight Worlds titles in men’s doubles — he won with Riley Newman in 2024 and Staksrud in 2025.
No. 3 Christian Alshon/Andrei Daescu: They’ve won the past two tournaments they’ve played together — the Las Vegas Open and Arizona Open. If seeding holds, they would play Johns/Tardio in the semifinals in what would be a must-watch match.
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OTHER TEAMS TO WATCH
No. 4 JW Johnson/Tama Shimabukuro: Their results have been solid but not spectacular since teaming up for several events this fall. In four tournaments they have a silver (at the Australia Pickleball Cup, which had a weaker field), two semifinal runs and a Round of 16 loss. They are certainly a solid team, but they will need to play their best tournament yet in order to win this week.
No. 5 Eric Oncins/CJ Klinger: These two rival Alshon/Daescu in the Team Power Forward discussion, but they will likely have to get through Patriquin/Staksrud in the quarterfinals in order to make the weekend.
No. 8 Jaume Martinez Vich/Nico Acevedo: They’ve played together twice recently had had good results both times. They took silver at the Chicago Cup and made the semifinals at the Las Vegas Open, with impressive wins in both events — in Chicago they beat Johnson/Shimabukuro in the Round of 16 and in Las Vegas they beat Oncins/Klinger in the Round of 16. This is definitely a team that could make a big run this week.
No. 12 Roscoe Bellamy/Pablo Tellez: This is a first-time partnership that you know we’ll be watching. Bellamy has had his best season yet in men’s doubles and Tellez has been a consistent presence deep in the draw at this event for years (he made the final in 2024).
WOMEN’S DOUBLES
THE FAVORITES
No. 1 Anna Leigh Waters/Anna Bright: They haven’t lost all year and have rarely been tested. They are a heavy favorite to repeat as champs at Worlds. Fun fact: Bright is going for three Worlds women’s doubles titles in a row — she won the event with Rachel Rohrabacher in 2024 and with Waters in 2025.
OTHER TEAMS TO WATCH
No. 2 Tyra Black/Jorja Johnson: They recently won gold at the Australia Pickleball Cup, but are still looking for their first PPA title in the U.S. in 2026.
No. 3 Parris Todd/Rachel Rohrabacher: They’ve played together seven times this year and have made it to at least the semifinals every time. They have two golds and three silvers in 2026.
No. 4 Kate Fahey/Tina Pisnik: They haven’t played together since The Masters in January (they were beaten in the quarterfinals. Fahey seems to be playing better in doubles now than she was at the start of the year, though, and both players are now in the Top 10 of the World Pickleball Rankings.
No. 5 Catherine Parenteau/Sofia Sewing: They’ve played together four times since Sewing joined the PPA Tour, with one gold medal (at the Virginia Beach Open, which was a weaker field).
No. 11 Layne Sleeth/Chao Yi Wang: This is a first-time partnership, and Sleeth has been playing well lately. She’s coming off a silver alongside Alix Truong at the Virginia Beach Open.
MIXED DOUBLES
THE FAVORITES
No. 1 Ben Johns/Anna Leigh Waters: They’ve been beaten a few times this year, but for the most part have continued to dominate this division.
OTHER TEAMS TO WATCH
No. 2 Hayden Patriquin/Anna Bright: They have three gold medals this year and have established themselves as the main threat to Johns/Waters in mixed. But their record this year vs. the No. 1 seed is 2-7.
No. 3 JW Johnson/Jorja Johnson: They have a recent win over Johns/Waters at the Las Vegas Open and are almost always in the hunt on the weekend. In four tournaments since the PPA Tour started back up following the MLP season, they have two silvers and two other semifinal appearances.
No. 4 Christian Alshon/Rachel Rohrabacher: This is another team that has been very consistent together. You have to go back to March to find the last tournament they played and didn’t at least make it to the semifinals.
No. 5 Gabe Tardio/Tyra Black: The last time we saw them play together they won gold at the Australia Pickleball Cup. Can they have that same level of success in a much stronger field?
No. 6 Andrei Daescu/Parris Todd: They’ve played together for much of the year but are still looking to make their first final of 2026. This would be a good week for it.
No. 7 Federico Staksrud/Kate Fahey: This is another team that has been very solid this year, but they haven’t quite gotten over the hump against the top teams in the division.
No. 43 Nico Acevedo/Sofia Sewing: This is a first-time partnership that has a ton of potential. Both players have shown they are capable of playing at a Top 10 level. The question is how well and how quickly they can gel in a very tough field.
MEN’S SINGLES
THE FAVORITES
No. 1 Chris Haworth: He’s tied with Hunter Johnson for the most gold medals in men’s singles in 2026 — they both have six. Keep an eye on the weather. We’ve learned over the past year that if it gets breezy, the gap between Haworth and the field shrinks. If conditions are good, he’s able to be extremely precise and pick his opponents apart.
No. 2 Federico Staksrud: He only has three gold medals this year, but he’s extremely consistent and is almost always around on the weekend.
No. 3 Hunter Johnson: He’s been on a tear lately, with four gold medals in his past six events.
WOMEN’S SINGLES
THE FAVORITES
No. 1 Anna Leigh Waters: She hasn’t been beaten in nearly three years in women’s singles and she’s won this event every year it has existed (2023, 2024 and 2025).
No. 2 Kate Fahey: She’s won three gold medals (all events that Waters didn’t play) and has eight silvers this year. She’s the clear No. 2 behind Waters.
