Spring is in the air and with a revamped pro schedule in 2025 that means Major League Pickleball is near.

The season-opening event is in Orlando on April 24-27 at the USTA National Campus and all 16 Premier Level teams will be in action.

Buy tickets: MLP Orlando

Scheduling changes this year have placed all MLP events between April-August with only two PPA Tour tournaments mixed in during that time period, giving MLP more of a dedicated season this year.

The season will consist of 13 events:

• 10 regular season events, all hosted in MLP team markets for the first time.
• Mid-Season Tournament (July 10-13).
• MLP Playoffs (Aug. 15-17 and Aug. 22-24).
  

All teams will participate in five of the 10 regular season events, with each team scheduled to play a total of 25 regular season matches.

But the biggest change this season will be the league's switch to traditional side-out scoring for gender and mixed doubles games, with the following rules:

• Games will be played to 11 points, with a winning margin of at least two points.
• DreamBreakers will still be played under the existing rally scoring format and played to 21 points, with players switching out every four points. The freeze will remain at game point, meaning the DreamBreaker must be won on serve.

A total of three standings points will be earned in every regular season match.

Standings points are earned in every match as follows:

3 Points: Regulation win (i.e.: 3-1 or 4-0 win; no DreamBreaker needed).
2 Points: DreamBreaker win (i.e.: 3-2 win).
1 Point: DreamBreaker loss (i.e.: 2-3 loss).
0 Points: Regulation loss (i.e.: 1-3 or 0-4 loss; no DreamBreaker needed).

The top 10 Premier Level teams and all six Challenger Level teams will make the playoffs.

Also new this year: MLP will be running amateur tournaments alongside the pro matches at most 2025 events.

Register to play: Orlando Classic

With the logistics out of the way, let's take a look at how the teams stack up heading into the season. The Premier Level free-agency draft saw some surprising selections and several new names that will be looking to prove themselves early in the season. There also have been several trades since the draft that have reshaped a few rosters.

I have based my initial power rankings on each team's likely top 4 starters -- I suspect bench players will mostly be used in the case of injuries. The power rankings will be updated after each event, so stay tuned for future changes as we see these new rosters in action.

Major League Pickleball power rankings - preseason

#1: New Jersey 5s

Likely starters: Anna Leigh Waters, Meghan Dizon, Will Howells, Zane Navratil

Bench players: Christa Gecheva, Craig Johnson

This one was pretty simple for me: The 5s were very close to winning the championship last season and they got better by adding Dizon in place of Mari Humberg. Dizon has been regularly making quarterfinal and semifinal appearances in both women’s doubles and mixed doubles this season on the PPA Tour, while Humberg has yet to make it out of the Round of 16 in either division so far in 2025. Dizon should be a good fit on the right side with Waters in women’s and will likely pair with Navratil in mixed.

#2: Dallas Flash

Likely starters: Jorja Johnson, Tyra Black, JW Johnson, Augie Ge

Bench players: Wyatt Stone, Tatiana Ruhl

Another pick that was fairly straightforward. They won the title in 2024 and they got the band back together by picking up Ge in the free-agency draft earlier this month, so it’s hard to justify having them any lower than No. 2 – although there are a couple teams behind them that I could see making a push if they gel well together.

#3: St. Louis Shock

Likely starters: Anna Bright, Kate Fahey, Hayden Patriquin, Gabe Tardio

Bench players: Felicity Di Laura, Erik Lange

This hasn’t been talked about much but Bright has made a noticeable jump since switching to the new JOOLA Scorpeus Pro IV 14mm (buy it here). She beat Ben Johns and Anna Leigh Waters in mixed doubles at the Mesa Cup with Dekel Bar and has continued to be the clear No. 2 in women’s doubles behind Waters. Meanwhile, Patriquin, Tardio and Fahey have all improved since last season. I wouldn’t be surprised if St. Louis wins the championship this year, but I need to see some 2025 results before I think about moving them ahead of either of the top 2.

#4: Columbus Sliders

Likely starters: Lea Jansen, Parris Todd, Andrei Daescu, CJ Klinger

Bench players: Roscoe Bellamy, Marcela Hones 

This is the team I have in mind when I say “if they gel well together.” On paper this is a great starting four – Daescu has been a top-3 men’s player on the PPA Tour so far this season, Klinger has improved drastically since last summer and isn’t far behind, while both Jansen and Todd have had solid results in 2025, including a women’s doubles gold for Todd at the Texas Open last weekend with Tyra Black. With the veteran leadership of Daescu I expect this to be a very tough team to beat.

#5: D.C. Pickleball Team

Likely starters: Rachel Rohrabacher, Jackie Kawamoto, Dekel Bar, Riley Newman

Bench players: Hannah Blatt, Pat Smith

They finished in the top 4 last season and I gave them an A+ in the draft for the Newman pickup, but as much as I like this roster I can’t put them ahead of anybody in my top 4 right now. Like Columbus, I think there’s a bit of a question mark with how they’ll fit together, but if they can find a groove they can be dangerous.

#6: Texas Ranchers

Likely starters: Tina Pisnik, Etta Tuionetoa, Christian Alshon, Eric Oncins

Bench players: Michael Loyd, Helena Jansen

Alshon is tied with Ben Johns with the most medals of any men’s player so far in 2025 with 11 – 2 golds, 2 silvers and 1 bronze in men’s doubles; 1 silver and 2 bronze in mixed; and 2 golds and 1 silver in singles. Etta Tuionetoa had a good run two weeks ago with Callie Smith at the Texas Open, upsetting Anna Leigh Waters and Catherine Parenteau in the quarterfinals before taking silver in that event. Pisnik is always solid, and Eric Oncins also had a good run in Texas, finishing fourth in mixed doubles with Alix Truong. Add it all up and the Ranchers are looking strong, but I want to see how Oncins (new to Premier) fits with the rest of the team before I put them any higher.

#7: Los Angeles Mad Drops

Likely starters: Jade Kawamoto, Catherine Parenteau, Hunter Johnson, Quang Duong

Bench players: Wes Burrows, Angie Walker, Thomas Wilson (IR)

The Mad Drops were dealt an unfortunate hand last year when their top men’s player – Wilson – missed the season with a health issue. I thought they picked up the best available men’s player in the free-agency draft in Duong and I think you could make a case for them being higher on this list, but Johnson hasn’t had very strong results in men’s or mixed doubles so far this year. So I’d like to see them in action a few times to get a sense of where they fit. If they can get matches to a Dreambreaker, they will be very hard to beat – Johnson is currently No. 4 in the 2025 standings in singles, while Duong is No. 10 and Parenteau is No. 8 on the women’s side.

#8: Orlando Squeeze

Likely starters: Lacy Schneemann, Samantha Parker, Dylan Frazier, Federico Staksrud

Bench players: Tom Evans, Alli Phillips

They made a big trade before the draft to get Frazier and Schneemann, so along with Staksrud they had a strong top 3, but then they didn’t spend enough in the free-agency draft to get another strong women’s player to pair with Schneemann. This is one team that could experiment with starting either Parker or Phillips to see what works, but in either case I think it’s going to be tough to get wins in women’s doubles against the top teams. Orlando is also another strong Dreambreaker team, though, so I’m sure they’re banking on winning some matches in singles.

#9: Chicago Slice

Likely starters: Vivienne David, Callie Smith, James Ignatowich, Max Freeman

Bench players: Pierina Imparato, Carlos Di Laura

Props to Chicago’s ownership group and management team: They were starting from scratch in the free-agency draft and managed to put together a team that should be competitive in a lot of matches. Whether they finish in the top half of the league or the bottom half will likely depend on the health of Ignatowich. He has been dealing with a back injury early in the season, but if he’s healthy and playing well he’s one of the best men’s players in MLP. Chicago also grabbed two of the top 4 women available in the free-agency draft in David and Smith, and while Freeman is new to MLP, I expect him and Ignatowich to be strong in men’s doubles since they train together often.

#10: Carolina Pickleball Club

Likely starters: Kaitlyn Christian, Tamaryn Emmrich, Ben Johns, Collin Johns

Bench players: Liz Truluck, Brandon French

Carolina made a bet in the 2024 Premier Level draft that if you had Ben Johns on your roster you could be a contender regardless of who you surrounded him with. They lost that bet convincingly, missing the playoffs and oftentimes looking disinterested as a team. We’ll see if the Johns brothers have renewed energy for the team format after taking a break from partnering together on the PPA Tour.

#11: Phoenix Flames

Likely starters: Jessie Irvine, Genie Bouchard, Jack Sock, Tyson McGuffin

Bench players: Alex Walker, Pesa Teoni

I think Phoenix’s men’s doubles team could be dangerous if Sock is playing well, and he’s also a threat in mixed with his athleticism, but it’s hard to imagine their women’s doubles team winning many games. It’s clear that the hope here is to win men’s and steal one of the mixed matches to force a Dreambreaker.

#12: Utah Black Diamonds

Likely starters: Allyce Jones, Mehvish Safdar, Tyler Loong, Connor Garnett

Bench players: Genie Erokhina, Yates Johnson

They showed improvement late last season, and Garnett and Loong will be a top-half men’s doubles team in MLP, but they have a big question mark on the women’s side with Safdar. Utah owner and GM Connor Pardoe seems pretty confident that she can hang in Premier, but I’m waiting until I see it with my own two eyes before I start considering this team a threat to make the playoffs.

#13: Atlanta Bouncers

Likely starters: Vivian Glozman, Victoria Di Muzio, Todd Fought, Jaume Martinez Vich

Bench players: Sam Querrey, Rachel Rettger

All of the teams I haven’t named to this point – including Atlanta – have likely starters who casual fans have probably never heard of. For the Bouncers that’s Di Muzio, who is relatively unproven at this level. For me, Atlanta is in a “best of the rest” position because their top 3 players are all solid and they could certainly win some matches against other teams in the bottom half of the league. It’ll be a tough ask for them to win any matches against the top teams, though.

#14: Miami Pickleball Club

Likely starters: Milan Rane, Mya Bui, Jay Devilliers, Noe Khlif

Bench players: Yuta Funemizu, Ava Ignatowich

They picked up Jay Devilliers at No. 20 in the free-agency draft, which was a steal at that point in the proceedings, but Bui is an unknown and Khlif’s best results on the PPA Tour have all come in men’s doubles. The most interesting player on the roster is actually their third men’s player – Funemizu. He’s a world champion at soft tennis and I hear he might be trying shots we’ve never seen before, so I’m considering it must-watch TV if he gets on the court for any of Miami’s matches.

#15: SoCal Hard Eights

Likely starters: Judit Castillo, Irina Tereschenko, Ivan Jakovljevic, Ryan Fu

Bench players: Blaine Hovenier, Lauren Hidalgo-Smith

Sadly, I think the time has passed where Tereschenko can lead a team to an MLP title. Jakovljevic, Hovenier and Fu are all lower-tier men’s pros and Castillo has been largely absent from the PPA Tour over the past several months because of the way her UPA contract is structured. But the Hard Eights have shown they’re serious about winning in MLP in the past, so I wouldn’t expect them to be at the bottom of the standings for more than a year.

#16: New York Hustlers

Likely starters: Lingwei Kong, Dominique Schaefer, Zane Ford, Donald Young

Bench players: Helena Spiridis, Stephen Madonia 

This team is built for a Dreambreaker but unless they’re playing one of the other bottom-tier teams, it’s unlikely that they’ll be able to showcase their singles skills.