We recently updated our list of the current top 20 women’s players who compete on the PPA Tour and in Major League Pickleball. To help us through the process, we collaborated with an anonymous women’s pro player who regularly plays with and against many of the top players.

We wanted this list — which our anonymous pro may or may not be on — to reflect doubles ability only.

Because this is such a tough exercise, we set some general guidelines to help us make decisions:

– Gender doubles results carried more weight than mixed doubles results (about a 70-30 split).

– Ranking is based on 2026 results + input from our pro player consultant on who they would least like to see on their side of the draw in a tournament.

– PPA Tour results carried more weight than MLP results (again about a 70-30 split) due to the smaller sample size in MLP (1 game to 11 and not as many events).

Our ranking of the top 20 men’s players — which we made with the help of a men’s pro — can be found here.

The Kitchen’s Top 20 Women’s Players — April 2026

1. Anna Leigh Waters (previously No. 1) – There’s no debate here. In 2026 Waters is 34-0 in women’s doubles and 35-1 in mixed doubles. The only loss came in the mixed doubles final at the Mesa Cup – to the next woman on our list.

2. Anna Bright (previously No. 2) – Her women’s doubles record this year is the same as Waters’ because they play together, and Bright has also had more consistent mixed results so far in 2026 than prior years. In 7 PPA Tour events in the U.S. this year, Bright and Hayden Patriquin have 1 gold (over Waters/Ben Johns) and 5 silvers. They’ve taken over as the de-facto No. 2 mixed team, even though JW/Jorja Johnson are still slightly ahead on points.

📈 3. Parris Todd (previously No. 7) – This might be a controversial pick, but her results in 2026 have been extremely impressive. In women’s doubles, Todd has four silvers with four different partners (Kate Fahey, Alix Truong, Rachel Rohrabacher and Tyra Black), and she also has two bronze medals in mixed (both with Andrei Daescu).

4. Tyra Black (previously No. 4) – The women’s doubles partnership of Black and Jorja Johnson had high expectations coming into 2026. They were one of two teams to beat Waters/Bright last year, but haven’t been able to sustain that success this year. They have one silver and two bronze medals in six tournaments together in 2026. Black has another silver with Todd and a gold in mixed with Christian Alshon, so she gets the nod for the No. 4 spot over Johnson.

📉 5. Jorja Johnson (previously No. 3) – It has been a down year so far for the reigning Major League Pickleball MVP. After regularly making finals in mixed doubles with brother JW Johnson for the past two years, the sibling duo has yet to make a mixed final in six tournaments together this year.

6. Rachel Rohrabacher (previously No. 6) – She’s been doing the partner shuffle so far in 2026, playing with two different women’s partners and four different mixed partners, with fairly consistent results. She has a silver and three bronze medals in women’s doubles and one bronze in mixed with Christian Alshon.

📉 7. Catherine Parenteau (previously No. 5) – Parenteau continues to string together solid weeks, but the peaks haven’t been as high in 2026 as they have been in past years. She has two bronze medals in women’s doubles and a pair of 4th place finishes in mixed with Gabe Tardio.

8. Jade Kawamoto (previously No. 8) – Jade and sister Jackie don’t play a full schedule, but when they do show up, they post great results. They have two silvers together in 2026 and seem to play Waters/Bright tougher than anybody else. It’s hard to have them higher on the list when we only see them once a month, though.

📈 9. Jackie Kawamoto (previously No. 10) – She has the two silvers with her sister in women’s and two Round of 16 finishes in mixed. The women in front of her all seem to have a slightly higher ceiling.

📈 10. Lacy Schneemann (previously No. 15) – She already has more women’s doubles medals in 2026 than she did in all of 2025 (two bronze with Tina Pisnik and one with Meghan Dizon). She also made a quarterfinal run with Jack Sock at the Mesa Cup, taking down JW/Jorja Johnson in the process.

📈 11. Tina Pisnik (previously No. 12)

📉 12. Kate Fahey (previously No. 11)

📈 13. Meghan Dizon (previously No. 14)

📈 14. Lea Jansen (previously No. 16)

📈 15. Callie Smith (previously No. 17)

📉 16. Jessie Irvine (previously No. 13)

📉 17. Etta Tuionetoa (previously No. 9)

📈 18. Mari Humberg (previously No. 19)

📈 19. Alix Truong (previously unranked)

📉 20. Allyce Jones (previously No. 18)

Notably absent: Zoey Wang (previously No. 20), Kaitlyn Christian, Lucy Kovalova, Brooke Buckner, Mary Brascia, Maggie Brascia.