Despite announcing split, Johns brothers will still play first event of 2025 together

Alex Lantz

Director, Written Content

Last Edited

Dec 30 2024

Category

News

Despite announcing earlier this month that they would be splitting up, Ben Johns and Collin Johns will still play the first PPA Tour event of 2025 together at The Masters next week in Palm Springs, California.

Ben Johns announced the split in a statement on Dec. 21, but said at the time that he hadn't confirmed a new partner or partners for 2025.

The brothers had been listed separately on the entry list for The Masters since -- indicating that they were both looking for new partners -- but then Monday morning they were paired back up.

There were several players who were rumored to be in talks with Ben about a 2025 partnership, but all had previously committed to other players for The Masters and were apparently unwilling to drop their partner in order to play with Ben.

The first tournament of the year -- also the first Slam of the year -- starts Jan. 6 and is believed to be the Johns brothers' final tournament together.

Despite winning 33 doubles titles together and 43 total medals over the past four seasons, 2024 was a disappointing year by their lofty standards. After recording back-to-back seasons with 10 or more gold medals in 2022 and 2023, the brothers won seven times this year. That's still two more than any other team, but they were beaten more in 2024 than the prior two years combined.

“We’ve achieved so much as a team together, and I’m really proud of what we’ve accomplished," Ben told Pickleball.com earlier this month. "Change-ups in life and in sports can be a refreshing thing. We feel like this decision will help us find new purpose, create variety, and reengage us in the sport we love so much."

The next tournament after The Masters is the Veolia Southern California Open, which starts Jan. 21 in Fountain Valley, California.

This is a developing story. Stay with The Kitchen for updates.

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