Major League Pickleball (MLP) is back in the desert of Phoenix for the first time in over two years. Still thought of as one of the most iconic MLP events in history, the last time MLP was in Phoenix was in January 2023 for the first event of Season 1 of that year.
The Edward Jones MLP Phoenix event is taking place at the beautiful Arizona Athletic Grounds, in east Mesa, AZ. The venue continues to be one of the best in the country for professional level pickleball events. Action starts Thursday, May 29, and ends Sunday, June 1.
MLP is playing ‘under the lights’ in Phoenix. Because of the heat (more below), Championship Court (fully covered, but outdoors) matches don’t start until 3pm PT/6pm ET. Grandstand Court (outdoors and not covered) don’t start until 5:45pm PT/8:45pm ET on Friday and Saturday. On Sunday, play will start in the morning, and end around 2:15pm PT/5:15pm ET.
Let’s get into the action.
Current standings headed into Edward Jones MLP Phoenix
The teams highlighted in light red above are playing in the Edward Jones MLP Phoenix Event.
If you are looking for a full breakdown of all player and team standings, please check out my public MLP Data for 2025.
Schedule of the Edward Jones MLP Phoenix
All times are LOCAL - Pacific
How to Watch the Edward Jones MLP Phoenix
All matches will be streamed live on Pickleballtv.com and the Pickleballtv App (which I have heard is now on Roku and Apple).
Friday, May 30
- DAL vs. BRK (5:00 p.m PT / 7:00 p.m. CT) on KFDI More 27 in Dallas-Ft. Worth
Saturday, May 31
- DAL vs. PHX (8:30 p.m PT / 10:30 p.m. CT) on KFDI More 27 in Dallas-Ft. Worth
Sunday, June 1 on MSG Networks in the tri-state area
- LA vs. DAL (9 a.m. PT / 12 p.m. ET)
- BRK vs. UTA (10:45 a.m. PT / 1:45 p.m. ET)
- PHX vs. BRK (12:30 p.m. PT / 3:30 p.m. ET)
There are a total of seven teams playing in MLP Phoenix. Each team plays the following amount of matches:
Weather Outlook
Sunset is scheduled for 7:30pm, so that first match on Grandstand court on Friday and Saturday will likely be hot and may even have shadow issues. After that, things should get cooler and the sun will be fully down.
Also remember that Phoenix has a dry heat. The humidity levels fluctuate between, 10%-20% for the most part throughout the weekend. It is a very different situation than we just had last weekend in Austin.
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Team by Team Preview
The order of team previews is in the order of their standings, from best to worst.
Dallas Flash
Points Per Match (PPM) & Standings: 8 matches played, 22 points, 2.75 PPM, 2nd in PPM
# Phoenix Matches: 6
Opponents: SoCal, BRK, ATL, UT, PHX, LA
Projected Starters: Jorja Johnson, Hurricane Tyra Black, JW Johnson, Augie Ge
Bench: Tatiana Ruhl and Ivan Jakovljevic
The Flash are currently undefeated, beating all eight of their opponents. They sit in second place in the standings, barely behind the Shock, who aren't playing this event. The Flash are the only team playing in MLP Phoenix that also played in MLP Austin last week, so fatigue could play a factor.
The Flash will be favored in every single one of their matchups in Phoenix and are looking to remain undefeated. The teams that have the best chance of getting hot (pun intended) and taking points off of Dallas are the LA Mad Drops and Brooklyn Pickleball Team.
Predicted Points: 17 points out of a max of 18. Dallas only drops one point to the LA Mad Drops on Sunday morning, by beating them in a Dreambreaker.
Brooklyn Pickleball Team
Points Per Match (PPM) & Standings: 5 matches played, 8 points, 1.6 PPM, 7th in PPM
# Phoenix Matches: 6
Opponents: LA, DAL, SoCal, ATL, UT, PHX
Projected Starters: Rachel Rohrabacher, Jackie Kawamoto, Dekel Bar, and Riley Newman
Bench: Hannah Blatt and Pat Smith
The Brooklyn team got better throughout the MLP Orlando event, the last one they played. However, they have by far, the hardest strength of schedule in MLP. With the easier schedule in MLP Phoenix, Brooklyn will look to get close to 2 points per match and solidify themselves in the top 5 conversation.
Predicted Points: 14 points out of a max of 18. Brooklyn loses to Dallas, but either beats everyone else, or at least gets to a Dreambreaker. Brooklyn gets back up to 2 ppm, tying them in 4th place with the Texas Ranchers.
LA Mad Drops
Points Per Match (PPM) & Standings: 3 matches played, 4 points, 1.33 PPM, 8th in PPM
# Phoenix Matches: 6
Opponents: BRK, PHX, SoCal, UT, DAL, ATL
Projected Starters: Catherine Parenteau, Jade Kawamoto, Quang Duong, Hunter Thomas
Bench: Angie Walker Danna Funaro and Wes Burrows
The Mad Drops have only played three matches, and zero matches with their starters. In MLP Orlando, Hunter Johnson had a kitchen accident, slicing open his hand on a knife. He couldn’t play, so they got on-site alternate, AJ Koller, to fill in. Johnson is now full healthy, and we get to see the Mad Drops at full strength.
*LA just traded Angie Walker to the Bay Area Breakers for Danna Funaro, as their third woman.
Predicted Points: 12 points out of a max of 18. LA is a scary Dreambreaker team, and they use that to their advantage, moving themselves up in the rankings slightly.
Atlanta Bouncers
Points Per Match (PPM) & Standings: 9 matches played, 8 points, 0.89 PPM, 11th in PPM
# Phoenix Matches: 6
Opponents: UT, PHX, DAL, BRK, SoCal, LA
Projected Starters: Vivian Glozman, Victoria DiMuzio, Jaume Martinez Vich, and Todd Fought
Bench: Rachel Rettger and Sam Querrey
Atlanta is one of the teams fighting for the last playoff position. DiMuzio is the newest member of the team and continues to improve, but is the improvement quick enough for Atlanta to be successful in Phoenix? DiMuzio and Fought need to start finding ways to win even a couple of mixed doubles matches (they are currently 1-8).
The Bouncers need to earn at least two points from their matches against SoCal, Utah, and Phoenix, in order to consider this a successful trip.
Predicted Points: 8 out of a max of 18. This would push the Bouncers above the 1 ppm mark, and slip them into a playoff spot, for now.
Phoenix Flames
Points Per Match (PPM) & Standings: 8 matches played, 7 points, 0.88 PPM, 12th in PPM
# Phoenix Matches: 6
Opponents: LA, ATL, UT, DAL, SoCal, BRK
Projected Starters: Jessie Irvine, Genie Bouchard, Tyson McGuffin, and Jack Sock
Bench: Alex Walker and Pesa Teoni
The Flames are hosting the event, and are easily one of the funnest teams to watch in MLP in 2025. The problem has been on court results. Phoenix has not had a regulation win yet, in their eight matches.
Tyson McGuffin and Jessie Irvine are actually playing well, both going 9-7 in their games, and are ranked 24th and 25th overall. Jack Sock and Genie Bouchard, on the other hand, are both 3-13, and ranked 61st and 62nd, respectively. They have not won a mixed doubles game together in their eight attempts.
The Flames need Sock and Bouchard to step up and win some mixed games. If they can even go 3-3 in Phoenix, the Flames have a chance to do well.
Predicted Points: 6 points out of a max of 18. This will keep the Flames outside the playoff hunt and still just below the 1 ppm mark.
SoCal Hard Eights
Points Per Match (PPM) & Standings: 2 matches played, 1 point, 0.5 PPM, 14th in PPM
# Phoenix Matches: 6
Opponents: DAL, LA, BRK, ATL, UT, PHX
Projected Starters: Judit Castillo, Irina Tereschenko, Roscoe Bellamy, and Blaine Hovenier
Bench: Lauren Hidalgo Smith and Ryan Fu
The Hard Eights "stole" Roscoe Bellamy from the Columbus Sliders in the first Premier Level Waiver Period earlier in the month. In a corresponding move, they waived Ivan Jakovljevic (who was picked up by Dallas).
It will be interesting to see how SoCal sends the teams out. Which guys start and which side do they play? Bellamy and Hovenier are both right side guys, so this will be interesting.
Predicted Points: 1 point out of a max of 18. I don't see SoCal winning much in the desert, despite the Bellamy upgrade.
Utah Black Diamonds
Points Per Match (PPM) & Standings: 3 matches played, 1 point, 0.33 PPM, 15th in PPM
# Phoenix Matches: 6
Opponents: ATL, PHX, DAL, LA, SoCal, BRK
Projected Starters: Allyce Jones, Genie Erokhina, Connor Garnett, and Tyler Loong
Bench: Mehvish Safdar and Yates Johnson
Utah had to play Miami, Orlando, and Columbus in MLP Orlando, all top half teams. The strength of schedule for them in Phoenix is much better, so they are looking to bounce back. Allyce Jones is the highest ranked player and is 47th, so they definitely have some work to do.
Predicted Points: 5 points out of a possible 18. This puts Utah closer to 1ppm and moves them up in the standings, at 0.67 ppm.
