One of the APP Tour's top men's singles players has signed with the UPA. How will he stack up on the PPA Tour? And what does this mean for Major League Pickleball?

What a difference a couple weeks makes.

Just days after sending the below tweet on May 6 promising results in spite of not having a pro contract, Grayson Goldin snapped a year-long men's singles gold medal draught, winning the 2025 APP Vlasic Classic in Cincinnati.

Days later he came on the PicklePod to talk about the grind of being an unsigned top-25 pro, telling host Zane Navratil, “I believe I’m one of the best singles players in the world. Getting that win really meant a lot to me.”

The grind has paid off: Grayson Goldin has officially signed a pro contract with the United Pickleball Association (UPA).

"That was my goal–to be on the PPA," Goldin told me. "I didn't know how I was going to get there, and so I'm happy. It was a grind. I'm definitely happy."

What we know about the deal

Candidly, we don't know much.

Goldin wasn't prepared to talk specifics, and we didn't pry. What we can say is it's likely in the ballpark of other deals inked this year, meaning it's weighted toward prize money rather than salary. It's definitely not the lucrative guaranteed money we saw during the height of the 2023 Tour Wars.

Signing with the UPA means Goldin doesn't have to play PPA Tour qualifiers anymore, though he is obligated to play some PPA Challenger events throughout the year.

Critically, this could lead to brand sponsorships, like shoes, apparel, or the all-important paddle deal.

Goldin currently plays with Paddletek, after switching from JOOLA, but is still a paddle free agent in terms of an exclusive sponsorship.

What's next for Goldin?

Goldin's singles dominance on the APP Tour is well-documented. Signing a pro contract with the UPA means he can prove himself among the sport's best singles players, like Federico Staksrud, Ben Johns, Hunter Johnson, and Connor Garnett.

In singles, Goldin is tied for 23rd on the PPA Tour, despite not having played on the Tour since January 2025. Over the past year, Goldin has singles wins over well-established PPA Tour players, such as Ben Johns, Jack Sock (x2), Michael Loyd, Gabe Joseph, Julian Arnold, and Donald Young, among others.

Top brass at the PPA are excited about the signing.

"Grayson is an electrifying personality and has established himself as a top-tier singles player. We are extremely excited to have him join the tour and can’t wait to see where he goes from here," PPA Deputy Commissioner, Chris Patrick, told me.

Goldin is less proven in men's and mixed doubles, although he is currently ranked 69th in men's doubles and 74th in men's mixed doubles on the PPA Tour despite not having played on the tour at all in 2025.

It will be interesting to see who he teams up with for PPA Tour events this year, and how he competes on the sport's biggest stage.

A bigger question mark is what this means for Goldin's prospects in Major League Pickleball.

Will Goldin play in MLP?

As a signed UPA player, Goldin is automatically eligible to be picked up by an MLP team.

There's no roadmap for how this will go, so we're speculating here, but it's possible that Goldin will be claimed during MLP Challenger's only Waiver Wire period on Wednesday, June 11. From where we're sitting, top prospects include the Florida Smash and Bay Area Breakers.

He could then get traded to a Premier Level team, but that remains to be seen.

An MLP front office staffer, who asked to remain anonymous, told us this:

“Grayson is definitely at least a Challenger player right now. He seems like a team guy. He played college tennis and always seems to be bringing energy on the court. I could even see a lower-level Premier team taking their shot on him, banking on the upside. He’s obviously going to be a beast in Dreambreakers, and his mixed game is good. What he lacks in results on the doubles side, I think he makes up for in his hunger to be great and the level of energy he brings.”