The PPA Tour made its last stop before the Jenius Bank Pickleball World Championships in Sin City! The Darling Tennis Center hosted the Rate Vegas Cup and the action did not disappoint.
In back to back years, this particular tournament has hosted match of the year candidates. Ben Johns and Gabe Tardio put on a show along with Christian Alshon and Andrei Daescu, in a memorable match on Championship Sunday.
If you forgot about it, last year’s nominee was the insane battle between Catherine Parenteau/Anna Leigh Waters and Rachel Rohrabacher/Anna Bright.
Let’s get into the action.
Top Storylines
Ben Johns and Gabe Tardio Won their Sixth Straight in Epic Fashion
In a match that spanned two hours and 27 minutes, Gabe Tardio and Ben Johns won their sixth straight tournament in a row.
This one was fairly easy sailing for the best men’s doubles team in the world - they didn’t lose a single game until the finals.
However, the finals proved to be one of the years’ best matches. The entire thing was a complete back and forth brawl among four of the game’s top players. Christian Alshon and Andrei Daescu gave Gabe and Ben everything they had.
The scoreline of the first four games was 12-10, 9-11, 11-7, 4-11. Of course game five had to go into extra pickleball.
Christian and Andrei had the lead at 9-8 in the fifth game, with the serve. They won the point to go up 10-8-2 and they had match point. A crazy back and forth firefight ensued in the next rally, with Ben outdueling Alshon in a backhand hands battle.
Down 8-10, Ben and Gabe clawed their way back to even and eventually won the match, 12-10 in the fifth. This is easily one of the best men’s doubles matches of the year and is in the running for overall best match of the year. If you haven't already, take a look when the PPA posts this video to their YouTube channel.
Anna Leigh Waters Won her 37th Triple Crown
In a weekend where the men’s doubles final took over headlines, Anna Leigh Waters somewhat quietly took home her 37th triple crown.
In women’s singles, Anna Leigh didn’t lose a single game, defeating all of her opponents in two games. She beat Zoey Wang, Kaitlyn Christian, and Genie Bouchard in the finals, to seal her gold medal.
Mixed doubles started Championship Sunday off, with Ben and Anna Leigh beating Jessie Irvine and Gabe Tardio handily, in three quick games, 11-2, 12-10, 11-7. Ben and Anna Leigh lost a game both in the quarterfinals to Rachel Rohrabacher and Andrei Daescu, and again in the semifinals to Anna Bright and Hayden Patriquin. It has been over six months since Ben and Anna Leigh have lost a match.
In women’s, Anna Bright and Anna Leigh cruised through the competition, even double pickling an opponent. That is, until the finals.
Things were a little slow for the #1 seed against Hurricane Tyra Black and Parris Todd, and they lost 11-13 in the first. After game one, they went on a 33-9 run, winning gold in back to back tournaments together. Although there were two hiccups in the middle of the year, “the Annas” seem to be firing on all cylinders and are clearly the class of the women’s doubles field.
Federico Staksrud made his way back to the Gold Medal Stand
Men's singles is just a crazy event in 2025. It feels like anyone can win. Roscoe Bellamy (11 seed) and Marshall Brown (22 seed) both made the semifinals.
Federico Staksrud found a will to win, and earned his third gold medal in 2025 in singles. He had to beat Bellamy, Brown, and Jack Sock to earn the gold.
Both Jack Sock and Zane Ford took a game off Fed, but the #2 overall seed was able to prevail once again. Fed is looking more and more like his 2024 self and that is scary for the rest of the field.
Other Storylines
Genie Bouchard earned her second silver medal in the last month
Bouchard is definitely coming into her own on the pickleball scene. She started in early 2024, but was still playing tennis and pro pickleball at the same time.
Since retiring from tennis in July, Bouchard has now made Championship Sunday twice, earning two silver medals. She is moving well, hitting her ground strokes precisely, and covering the net very well.
Having watched Genie play numerous times, I believe the match she played against Kate Fahey in the semifinals was the best match of her career.
Although Bouchard fell just short in the finals, 5-11, 5-11 to Anna Leigh, I would not be surprised to see Genie earning a gold medal within the next year.
Matt Wright fell just short of his third medal in 2025
Matt Wright’s full-time job is being a corporate attorney. When Matt Wright graduated from the University of Michigan in 2000, his Round of 32 and Quarterfinal opponents this week weren’t even born. Heck, his partner Eric Oncins, wasn’t even born.
25 years later, and Wright is still top 10 all-time in wins at Michigan, and is still beating plenty of top level pickleball pros. He has earned medals this year with Jaume Martinez Vich and with Jay Devilliers. He made it to the semis with Oncins this week, falling just short of his third medal this year, losing in the bronze medal match.
Wright continues to defy time and has proven time and again that if he can get an athletic partner on his left, he can still be a top 5 right side guy at the age of 48.
Luc Pham and Will MacKinnon made a deep run in men’s doubles
The youngsters did get a little lucky with withdrawals in both the Round of 64 and Round 32, to automatically make the Round of 16. In the Round of 16, they beat Tyson McGuffin and Ryan Fu, 11-5 in the third, to face off against Ben and Gabe in the Quarterfinals.
Will and Luc put up an extremely respectable scoreline of 7-11, 6-11 in the loss to the #1 seeds. MacKinnon especially stood out, hitting two cross court dink winners on Ben Johns - not something you see every day, especially from a teenager.
Andre Mercado had two main draw wins - one in men’s and one in mixed
Speaking of youngsters, teenager, Andre Mercado beat Sam Querrey and Luana Stanciu with Isabella Dunlap in mixed doubles in the Round of 128. In men’s, Mercado and Tama Shimabukuro took out Armaan Bhatia and Chris Haworth in the Round of 64. They even took a game off Matt Wright and Eric Oncins in the Round of 32, who eventually finished in fourth place.
Full Results
Women’s Singles
🥇Anna Leigh Waters
🥈Genie Bouchard
🥉Kate Fahey
Men’s Singles
🥇Federico Staksrud
🥈Roscoe Bellamy
🥉Hunter Johnson
Mixed Doubles
🥇Anna Leigh Waters/Ben Johns
🥈Jessie Irvine/Gabe Tardio
🥉Jorja & JW Johnson
Women’s Doubles
🥇Anna Bright/Anna Leigh Waters
🥈Parris Todd/Hurricane Tyra Black
🥉Catherine Parenteau/Jade Kawamoto
Men’s Doubles
🥇Ben Johns/Gabe Tardio
🥈Christian Alshon/Andrei Daescu
🥉Federico Staksrud/Hayden Patriquin
