Dink Awards 2023 Winners: Most Improved

We're back with part two of the Dink Awards winners. Today we're focusing on the most improved player categories, as well as the player with the most influential voice, and event of the year. If you didn't get chance to see the first set of results, check those out below.

Dink Award Winners - Part One 👇

Men's Most Improved Player

Most Improved Male Player of the Year - Winners

This was an absolutely stacked category (and it shows in the results). Christian Alshon takes the win with a decisive lead but we had our first tie of the Dink awards between Garnett and Staksrud.

Sign up today for the most informative newsletter in pickleball from The Dink!

Here are the full results:

Christian Alshon (31.3 percent)
Connor Garnett (21 percent)
Federico Staksrud (21 percent)
Hayden Patriquin (18.9 percent)
Pablo Tellez (7.8 percent)

Women's Most Improved Player

A stand-out of 2023, Rachel Rohrabacher quickly rose to the top with her incredible performance on the Orlando Squeeze. She has since gone on to partner with Anna Bright and the two have become a force to be reckoned with.

Here are the full results:

Rachel Rohrabacher (27.8 percent)
Hurricane Tyra Black (24.7 percent)
Jorja Johnson (19.2 percent)
Megan Fudge (16.4 percent)
Etta Wright (11.8 percent)

SLK Rising Talent

The SLK rising talent award goes to Jaume Martinez Vich who has no signs of slowing down. Vich has already upset Ben Johns in singles this year and we expect it will be a repeat occurrence!

Here are the full results:

Jaume Martinez Vich (34.6 percent)
Gabriel Tardio (28.2 percent)
Judit Castillo (21.4 percent)
Tina Pisnik (15.8 percent)

Event of the Year

Major League Pickleball Atlanta comes out on top for the best even of the year in 2023. Whether you were there in-person or watching from home, the energy was out of control. We can't wait to watch more events like this this year!

Here are the full results:

Major League Pickleball Atlanta (33 percent)
USAP National Championships (23.7 percent)
Minto US Open Championships (22.6 percent)
PPA Takeya Showcase (12.5 percent)
APP New York City Open (8.2 percent)

Top Influential Voice

One thing we did not lack last year was hot-button topics for the pros to sound-off on and it's no surprise that the two top podcasts' hosts would rise to the top here.

Here are the full results:

Zane Navratil (39.2 percent)
Jimmy Miller (18.5 percent)
Lea Jansen (15 percent)
Jill Braverman (13.5 percent)
Travis Rettenmaier (9 percent)
Tim Parks (4.8 percent)

2023 Fan Favorite

Tyson dominated this category and retains his title as the fan favorite for two years running. A huge shout-out to Anna for coming in second place after winning rookie of the year in 2022 - a huge jump into becoming a household name in 2023.

Here are the full results:

Tyson McGuffin (31.3 percent)
Anna Bright (17.8 percent)
Zane Navratill (16.7 percent)
A.L. Waters (14.7 percent)
Allyce Jones (13.8 percent)
Riley Newman (5.7 percent)

Even MORE Winners to Come!

We're at the half-way mark of releasing the 2023 Dink Award winners. Come back on Friday to see the final list including all the content creator categories, best on-court antics, and best pickleball rivalry.