PPA Tour Pickleball National Championships: Draws, schedule, TV information
The PPA Tour is back in action this week in Cary, North Carolina, for the Veolia Pickleball National Championships. It’s the first event of the tour’s 2026-27 season, and it’s a big one — as a slam, it is worth 2,000 ranking points for the winners in each division.
Pro qualifying took place Monday and main-draw matches will start on Tuesday, with one round in every division to be played each day through Championship Sunday. There are no bronze-medal matches in this event.
There are several interesting players and partnerships making their PPA Tour debut this week, as well as some old partnerships running it back to kick off the fall season. There also are some important changes to the tour itself.
Let’s get to it!
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PPA Tour introducing automatic line calling system
PPA Tour CEO and Founder Connor Pardoe said the tour will have eight courts equipped with automatic line calling technology at this week’s event in partnership with PlayReplay, a sports technology company specializing in AI-powered line calling and performance analytics. The PlayReplay system uses four cameras mounted on the net posts that work to detect events like line calls, foot faults and kitchen violations.
“Our goal is to reduce tension and human error in officiating,” Hans Lundstam, CEO and Co-founder of PlayReplay, said when the partnership was announced last year. “In tennis, our AI-driven systems have transformed line calling — and we’re excited to bring the same clarity and fairness to pickleball.”
The system can announce calls live on the court, replicating any “out” or “fault” calls from players or refs. There also is a review mode where players can challenge calls and see animated replays. PlayReplay will be in use on all pro courts except Championship Court. Championship Court will use the same Owl AI video review process that was used at Major League Pickleball events this summer.
In addition to the line-calling capabilities, the PlayReplay system is also a performance tracking platform. The cameras capture everything from shot type (forehands, backhands, volleys) to ball speed, spin rate and shot placement. Learn more about the PlayReplay system here.
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First event with new World Pickleball Rankings system
The PPA Tour last month announced the launch of the World Pickleball Rankings, a first-of-its-kind system designed to identify the best overall pro pickleball players in the world.
The new ranking system is debuting this season and brings every PPA Tour event around the world under one unified, global leaderboard. According to a news release, the change is meant to give players, fans and media a single, definitive answer to the question: Who is the best pickleball player in the world?
The World Pickleball Rankings will be a composite measure of a player’s performance across all three divisions — gender doubles, mixed doubles and singles. A player’s overall score will be weighted (gender doubles at 50%, mixed doubles at 35% and singles at 15%) and drawn from their 14 best results over the trailing 52 weeks.
The system rewards complete players, according to the release — “The ones who show up and compete everywhere, in every format.”
The points leaderboard will also determine event entries, byes for the top-ranked players and teams and qualification for the season-ending PPA Finals, where the top eight men and top eight women will compete across all three disciplines to be crowned PPA Finals Champion. Learn more about the World Pickleball Rankings system here.
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PPA Tour Veolia Pickleball National Championships schedule
Coverage on Pickleballtv begins at 10 a.m. ET on Tuesday through Friday and Sunday. Play will start at 9 a.m. Saturday, with coverage on Tennis Channel Thursday through Sunday in the afternoons.
PPA Tour Veolia Pickleball National Championships draws
MEN’S DOUBLES
Teams to watch:
No. 1 Ben Johns/Gabe Tardio: This duo is undefeated in 2026. Will the fall go as smoothly as the spring did?
No. 2 Andrei Daescu/Christian Alshon: This duo played together for most of 2025, winning three gold medals, six silver medals and three bronze medals.
No. 3 Hayden Patriquin/Federico Staksrud: These two just met in the Major League Pickleball Finals, and now they’re back on the same side of the net. The last time we saw them playing together, they won the Pickleball World Championships in November.
No. 4 JW Johnson/Tama Shimabukuro: This is a first-time partnership. Can they make waves in their first event together?
No. 5 Will Howells/CJ Klinger: This is another interesting first-time partnership, but they have a pretty tough draw. They could meet No. 9 Connor Garnett/Roscoe Bellamy in the Round of 16, then face Johns/Tardio in the quarterfinals if they win that.
No. 14 Max Freeman/Pablo Tellez: The rare lefty-lefty duo.
No. 30 Casey Diamond/Rafa Hewett: Diamond is making his PPA Tour debut, but it won’t be an easy road. If they get out of the first round, they’ll play No. 7 Dekel Bar/Dylan Frazier in the Round of 32.
WOMEN’S DOUBLES
Teams to watch:
No. 1 Anna Leigh Waters/Anna Bright: Enemies on Sunday in the MLP Finals, teammates on Tuesday.
No. 2 Jorja Johnson/Tyra Black: They earned three silvers and two bronze medals in the spring.
No. 3 Parris Todd/Rachel Rohrabacher: They played together twice this spring, winning one gold (Sacramento Open) and one silver.
No. 4 Tina Pisnik/Lacy Schneemann: Pisnik is coming off of a very solid Major League Pickleball season.
No. 5 Catherine Parenteau/Sofia Sewing: Sewing is making her PPA Tour debut. Couldn’t ask for a much better partner right off the bat.
MIXED DOUBLES
Teams to watch:
No. 1 Ben Johns/Anna Leigh Waters: New season, same dominant duo.
No. 2 Hayden Patriquin/Anna Bright: They established themselves as the clear No. 2 team in mixed doubles with one gold medal and six silver medals in the spring.
No. 3 JW Johnson/Jorja Johnson: They had a below average spring by their standards, earning one silver medal and two bronze medals. Can they get back to making finals on a regular basis?
No. 4 Christian Alshon/Rachel Rohrabacher: The Brooklyn Pickleball Team teammates were 20-6 together in Major League Pickleball this season.
No. 5 Gabe Tardio/Tyra Black: They haven’t played a U.S. event together in more than 2 years, but they did finish third in a PPA Tour Asia event in Vietnam in April.
No. 7 Eric Oncins/Tina Pisnik: This duo made the finals at the PPA Tour Newport Beach Open in March. Can they make another big run this week?
No. 64 Casey Diamond/Sofia Sewing: They were one of the strongest teams on the APP Tour. Will that translate to success on the PPA Tour? Their first-round matchup could be a strong indication — they play No. 10 Riley Newman/Catherine Parenteau in the Round of 64.
MEN’S SINGLES
Players to watch:
No. 1 Chris Haworth: He won four gold medals this spring, more than any other player.
No. 2 Federico Staksrud: He’s coming off of an MVP performance in the MLP Finals. Will he be ready to go on a quick turnaround?
No. 3 Hunter Johnson: He won twice this spring and is looking to reclaim the No. 1 spot, which he held for much of 2025.
No. 4 Christian Alshon: He didn’t make a final in the spring, but did earn three bronze medals.
No. 24 Ben Johns: He doesn’t play singles much these days, but is still very dangerous when he does. He’ll play No. 39 Tyson McGuffin in the Round of 64 — a matchup that was a regular final not that long ago.
No. 26 Grayson Goldin: He’s coming off of a win in a PPA Tour Asia event in China and appears to be fully recovered after a stroke earlier this year.
WOMEN’S SINGLES
Players to watch:
No. 1 Anna Leigh Waters: She hasn’t lost in 824 days. If ever there was a week to beat her, maybe it’s the week after she expends a ton of physical and mental energy leading the New Jersey 5s to the MLP title?
No. 2 Kate Fahey: She’s coming off of a very strong MLP season.
No. 3 Kaitlyn Christian: She has a fairly favorable draw until the semifinals, where she would face Waters if seeding holds.
No. 4 Brooke Buckner: She was a key piece of a Dallas Flash team that made the semifinals in MLP, and this is essentially a home game for the North Carolina resident.
No. 46 Sofia Sewing: She doesn’t have any points because this is her first PPA Tour event, but she will likely move up the rankings quickly and could be a Top 10 seed before long.
