PPA Tour 2026 Mesa Cup: Draws, schedule, TV information and analysis
Last Edited
Feb 16 2026
Category
News
The PPA Tour is in action for the second straight week -- this time in Mesa, Arizona, for the Mesa Cup.
This is annually one of the biggest tournaments on the calendar, and it's fittingly held at one of the largest pickleball venues in the country: Arizona Athletic Grounds, which has more than 40 dedicated courts and a covered stadium court.
After experimenting with a few different scheduling formats over the past couple years, the PPA Tour has now shifted to a progressive draw for all of its tournaments in 2026, regardless of whether it is an Open, Cup or Slam. That means pro qualifying will be played on Mondays and main draw matches will start on Tuesdays, with one round in every division to be played each day through Championship Sunday.
This week's tournament is a Cup, so it is worth 1,500 ranking points for the winners in each division. That also means that almost all of the top players are in the field this week.
The weather forecast calls for cooler-than-usual temps, with highs in the mid-60s during the week and temps getting into the high 70s/low 80s on the weekend. There is a chance of rain on Tuesday and Wednesday.
All Mesa Cup matches can be viewed on Pickleballtv or the Pickleballtv App starting Tuesday. Select time windows will be broadcast on FS1 and Tennis Channel.
Here's a look at the schedule and draws for each event:
Mixed doubles
This division has been very competitive in the first few events of the season. Anna Bright/Hayden Patriquin have pushed Ben Johns/Anna Leigh Waters to a Game 5 in two finals -- at the Masters in January and the Cape Coral Open last week -- but Johns/Waters walked away with the win both times. In the tournament in between (the Indoor National Championships in Minnesota), Bright/Patriquin won with Johns/Waters not in the field. I don't think anybody would complain about a third finals matchup between those two teams.
Christian Alshon/Rachel Rohrabacher were solid in their debut together in Cape Coral, winning bronze over Jorja Johnson/JW Johnson.
The Johnsons are still the No. 2 seed by a comfortable margin, but they have been beaten in the semifinals (Cape Coral) and quarterfinals (Masters) in their two tournaments together this year, although it was reported on the broadcast that Jorja Johnson was dealing with an illness last week.
Tyra Black/Andrei Daescu are teaming up for the first time and are the No. 4 seed. They could match up against Alshon/Rohrabacher in the quarterfinals, and the winner of that would likely face Johns/Waters in the semifinals.
Men's doubles
Ben Johns/Gabe Tardio have won 9 of the last 10 tournaments they've played together, and their only loss in that stretch was to a team (Hayden Patriquin/Federico Staksrud) that isn't playing together anymore.
Christian Alshon/Hayden Patriquin have two silvers and a bronze in three tournaments together this year, but were blown out in the semifinals at the Cape Coral Open by JW Johnson/CJ Klinger. We could see a rematch between those two teams in the semifinals again this week.
Andrei Daescu/Federico Staksrud -- the other high-profile team that has been playing together early in the year -- are still searching for their first medal of 2026.
Possible sleeper: Jack Sock/Pablo Tellez played very well in their first tournament together at the Masters, losing in three games to Johnson/Klinger in the quarterfinals. Sock also made the finals in singles at the Masters, but suffered a hamstring injury in that match and hasn't played a tournament since.
Women's doubles
Anna Leigh Waters/Anna Bright have picked up where they left off last year -- they're 14-0 in three tournaments in 2026 and have only dropped 3 games in that stretch. They were particularly dominant in Cape Coral, outscoring their opponents 121-40.
Kate Fahey/Parris Todd are teaming up for the first time and are the No. 4 seed. If they make it to the semifinals, they will likely face Waters/Bright.
On the other side of the bracket, Tyra Black/Jorja Johnson and Rachel Rohrabacher/Catherine Parenteau are heavy favorites to make it to the semifinals. We've seen that matchup twice this year, with Black/Johnson winning both times.
Men's singles
Men's singles has normalized a little bit after being a free-for-all for much of 2025. Here are the past 10 gold medalists:
Federico Staksrud
Hunter Johnson
Christopher Haworth
Christopher Haworth
Roscoe Bellamy
Federico Staksrud
Federico Staksrud
Christopher Haworth
Federico Staksrud
Christian Alshon
Those are the top 4 seeds this week + Bellamy, who is the No. 6 seed.
Women's singles
Anna Leigh Waters hasn't lost a singles match in well over a year, but one of her closest calls during her current winning streak came at this tournament last year. Brooke Buckner won Game 1 in the finals against Waters and had a big lead in Game 2, but Waters came storming back to take gold.
Kate Fahey has stretched out a healthy margin over Kaitlyn Christian for the No. 2 seed and is the favorite on the other side of the bracket.
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