The PPA Tour’s fifth stop of the season -- the Cape Coral Open -- brought about winds of change from the onset last week.

This is the first time the PPA Tour has held this event near Fort Myers, Florida, and local fans flooded the recently opened 32-court facility aptly named "The Courts, Cape Coral" throughout the week. They were treated to many fresh partnerships across the doubles draws and several upsets on a blustery singles day.

Cape Coral is situated in Lee County, about 50 miles north of the legacy pickleball hotbed of Naples, and (in full-circle fashion) only about 14 miles from where the PPA Tour held it’s private Covid-era indoor Invitational at PPA Pro Ryan Sherry’s Underground in Fort Myers in 2020. The impact that event had as proof-of-concept for the PPA can't be overestimated, as it came at a time when pro sports were in disarray and the NBA was just about to enter “The Bubble” playoff experiment. The fledgling PPA Tour pressed on with the event that featured Ben Johns, a slew of other top PPA pros (legends of past and present), and a then-13 year-old Anna Leigh Waters.

The PPA had one more small invitational the following year in 2021 at The Underground, but hadn't returned to the area since. 

I was on-site in “The Cape” (my home courts!), and there were no shortage of storylines throughout the weekend.

PPA Tour Cape Coral Open results and storylines

Mixed doubles

Gold: Anna Leigh Waters/Ben Johns def. Anna Bright/JW Johnson 4-11, 13-11, 11-7, 7-11, 11-5.

Bronze: Catherine Parenteau/Christian Alshon def. Jorja Johnson/Hayden Patriquin 12-10, 12-10.

Waters and Johns were looking to right-the-ship in this event after a rare absence from Championship Sunday at the Mesa Cup, where they were upset in the semifinals.

In the most closely contested doubles match of the day on Sunday, they found their backs against the wall again after dropping the first game to Johnson and Bright. But the top seed showed their resolve in Game 2, fending off two game points.

Johnson, coming off his own Gold Medal at the Mesa Cup with sister Jorja Johnson, has been dynamic in mixed so far this year. And Bright, who had her own double-gold opportunity on the day, brought the fire to JW’s ice -- complementing each other to the point where they seemed like a veteran partnership.

But in the end Johns and Waters were able to find their stride to close out Game 5.

Even so, several mixed doubles teams have shown early in the season the capability to take at least one early game off of Waters/Johns, hinting that their prior strangle-hold on the event is becoming more tenuous with each passing week.

In the bronze match, tensions were high and ultimately resulted in a hand gesture from Patriquin in the direction of Alshon following match point.

Men's singles

Gold: Christian Alshon def. Juame Martinez-Vich 8-11, 11-3, 11-6

Bronze: John Lucian Goines def. Max Freeman 11-6, 9-11, 11-2

In another final that went the distance, Alshon overcame a Game 1 loss to take his first-ever singles gold medal. Martinez-Vich (who found himself in some postgame beef with fellow Six-Zero pro and newcomer Zane Ford earlier in the week) settled for silver after Alshon ran away with Games 2 and 3. Alshon had been knocking on the door in singles for some time and appears to be 100% healthy after having to skip several singles events at the tail end of 2024 due to an injury. Could this breakthrough lead to Alshon becoming a threat to win singles titles on a regular basis?

Notable this tournament was the chaos that ensued in singles on Thursday, with 16 mph winds and gusts over 20 mph.

Both of the bronze medal contestants saw their share of upset victories, with new Chicago Slice MLP draftee Max Freeman (38 seed) upsetting both Connor Garnett and Jack Sock on his way to the third-place match. But it was 16-year-old John Lucian Goins, starting his run all the way from qualifiers, who knocked out Dylan Frazier as well as Ben Johns before securing the bronze on Sunday.

Women's doubles

Gold: Anna Leigh Waters/Catherine Parenteau def. Anna Bright/Rachel Rohrabacher 13-11, 11-7, 11-5

Bronze: Tyra Black/Alyce Jones def. Jackie Kawamoto/Vivienne David (WD)

Rivalries make sports. In women’s doubles, for the past several months it has been these two teams that have consistently risen above the rest. The unstoppable force vs an immovable object.

Bright and Rohrabacher came out swinging in Game 1 but couldn't close it out as Waters and Parenteau showed incredible resolve defensively to fight off four game points. The top seed then took full control midway through Game 2 and didn't look back.

Waters' second gold on the day was even more impressive considering the five-game mixed doubles match she had been tested in earlier.

Men's doubles

Gold: Ben Johns/Andrei Daescu def. Christian Alshon/Federico Staksrud 11-2, 11-7, 11-1

Bronze: CJ Klinger/JW Johnson def. Tyson McGuffin/Dekel Bar 11-7,11-6

Johns’ partnership carousel continued in The Cape. This time, Johns found his first gold of the year in men’s doubles since moving on from brother Collin.

Rather than partnering with a dynamic/aggressive playmaker on the right side, voice of the PPA Tour (and matchmaker) Dave Fleming helped coordinate a tandem with the uber-consistent Daescu, who claimed his third men's doubles gold in a row.

Johns may think long and hard about more events with Daescu, who is not only a consummate professional, but also provided (what seemed from the stands) the perfect amount of encouragement to keep Ben locked in.

Staksrud has been the top men’s doubles player in the points standings for several weeks now, and while Johns continues to be viewed by many as the best overall men’s player, it was the two players flanking them on the right with a gold streak on the line. Either Alshon or Daescu were guaranteed to leave Southwest Florida with a third men’s doubles gold this year once they made the final, but ultimately it was the tall Romanian who prevailed. Alshon still left with a gold, silver and bronze on the week -- a testament to his continued ascension in all divisions.

There are some lingering questions for Staksrud as gold has alluded him in 2025 (though he did not compete in singles this week). During some side-court chatter with fellow Adidas sponsored athlete Rafa Hewitt earlier in the week, it sounded as though Staksrud is confident a tournament-ready Adidas paddle is close to dropping.

Another storyline in the men's doubles draw was the first-time partnership of Klinger and Johnson, who narrowly lost a three-game thriller against Johns and Daescu in the semifinals. Klinger's weapons and lefty prowess open up Johnson to do what he does best, and they meshed together in a way that leaves many wanting to see how far these two can go. In the bronze medal match, they stifled several attempts by the veteran duo of Bar and McGuffin to gain any momentum.

Anecdotally, I was on the call alongside Martina Frantova for Klinger and Johnson's quarterfinals matchup vs. MLP’s St. Louis Shock teammates Patriquin and Tardio. Despite Patriquin and Tardio's elite offense and their ability to switch positions at various times, Johnson and Klinger matched them every step of the way, with Klinger often attacking Patriquin straight on. I’d love to see that group run it back in a future semifinal or Sunday showdown.

Women's singles

Gold: Anna Leigh Waters def. Lea Jansen 11-3, 11-7

Bronze: Kate Fahey def. Chao Xi Wang 11-3, 11-3

Waters had a vintage tournament in singles, never dropping a game. Incredible considering how much chaos was created by the wind on Thursday. Jansen also turned in a vintage tournament of her own -- there was a time where she was the only female pushing Waters in singles.

In the bronze match, Fahey’s unbridled intensity against Wang’s poise was an incredible clash of styles. Ultimately Fahey controlled the match throughout -- her run to the bronze medal was a bit of a gauntlet, as she took down Callie Smith, Hanna Blatt and Salome Devidze on a gusty Thursday before falling to Waters in what was Waters' stiffest test of the tournament.

Final thoughts

Now nearly five years removed from that PPA Underground Invitational in 2020, it was Waters (now 18) who was the star of this PPA Tour stop in the Cape Coral area, capturing her 33rd career triple crown and 144th career gold medal.

On a weekend that celebrated International Women's Day, it was fitting that Waters gained ground ever so slightly on Johns’ career gold medal record of 149 after a double-gold of his own in mixed and men’s doubles. She is on pace to pass Johns for most PPA gold medals of all time within three or so events.

For all of the talk on windy conditions on Thursday, it was soon an afterthought as Friday, Saturday and Sunday were absolute showcase days for outdoor pickleball. With a fresh venue, ample space and an exhilarated crowd that showed up all week, Cape Coral could be a future mainstay on the PPA Tour.

The pro matches this past week started with a nod to former PPA gold medalist and local legend Ryan Sherry, as he kicked off men’s singles on Championship Court in winning fashion over Mouaad Alhouni.

"For all of the legendary players that have lived here -- the Johns brothers, Kyle Yates, Simone, Catherine Parenteau, Parris Todd, Pablo, Dekel (for a time), the list goes on, way better than myself --  there’s no reason why Lee County, Florida, cannot be a hub for world class pickleball for many years to come," said Sherry, who also noted that Staksrud spent a lot of time playing in the area as well.

A world-class showing of pickleball in an area with a massive appetite for the sport will only be a catalyst for next-gen talent. Could Cape Coral be pickleball’s next hotspot?

Already some of the most impressive displays this weekend were on the youth side of the tournament, with players like Rex Thais continuing to play elite pickleball, all before driving age.

It seemed crazy in 2020. Some caught wind of it then.