Not even 24 hours after the New Jersey Fives were crowned the 2026 Major League Pickleball (MLP) champions, qualifiers were taking place at the Cary Tennis Center, in North Carolina for the PPA Veolia Pickleball National Championships.

This is the start to the 2026 - 2027 season for the Professional Pickleball Association (PPA) Tour. With over 20 tour stops during the season, this one is extremely important, as it is one of the four SLAMs on tour.

There are some new things the tour is rolling out, so we will cover those, plus take a look at the draws and partnerships for the National Championships.

New items for the PPA Tour in 2026/2027

World Pickleball Rankings

There has been plenty of coverage regarding the newly formatted World Pickleball Rankings on the PPA Tour. With the emergence in the last three years of PPA Australia, PPA Tour Asia, PPA Tour Europe, PPA Tour Canada, the PPA Challenger Series, and more, the World Pickleball Rankings helps centralize one system to know who the best of the best is.

It is fairly simple: 50% of a players points come from gender doubles points earned, 35% comes from mixed doubles points, and 15% comes from singles points. This has been slightly controversial in terms of the percentage for singles, but we will see how this plays out over the course of the season.

For more information on the World Pickleball Rankings, check out our coverage:

New Automated Line Calling on Side Courts

In late 2025, the United Pickleball Association (UPA) announced a partnership with Owl AI to automate line calls. That partnership has been in the works since then, and will debut with eight courts for the first time in Cary. The automated line call system has been used quite a bit up until now to dial it in, but not to this magnitude.

The UPA is the holding company over both the PPA Tour and Major League Pickleball

8 courts with auto line calling tomorrow in Cary! pic.twitter.com/6BRWIy17fG
— Connor Pardoe (@connorpardoe_pb) August 31, 2026

Side Switch at Six - Every Game

This one is simple. Previously, in a best two out of three match, the following would take place: Team A starts on side one and finishes a game on side one. They then go to side two and play game number two. If the match was tied after two games, Team A would again start on side one. Whenever a team reached six points, both teams would switch sides one more time, so Team A would end on side two, in a three game match.

With the new implementation, every time a team hits the score of six, they switch sides. This seems to be a more fair way to compete. Time will tell us how the players feel.

Removal of Bronze Medal Matches

This one is going to be hailed by both players and fans alike. Let’s be honest - many of the top players did not like playing bronze matches, even if there were a lot of points up for grabs. Now, the two semifinalists earn the same amount of points. And they don’t have to stay another whole day to play a match on Grandstand Court for bronze.

Personally, I am a huge fan of this move.

Weather Outlook in Cary

The weather has been stifling in Cary, thus far. Humidity levels are through the roof and so are the temperatures. Player hydration is becoming an issue and it is only Wednesday. In addition, it looks like a good chance of rain for both Saturday and Sunday. Make sure to follow PPA Tour socials (or me on X) to stay up to date on weather delays or time changes.

Broadcast Schedule for the PPA Veolia National Championships

Tuesday, September 1

Round of 128 & Round of 64 - 10am - 6pm ET - pickleballtv

Wednesday, September 2

Round of 32 - 10am - 6pm ET - pickleballtv

Thursday, September 3

Round of 16 - 9am - 5pm ET - pickleballtv
Round of 16 - 11:30am - 5pm ET - Tennis Channel

Friday, September 4

Quarterfinals - 10am - 6pm ET - pickleballtv
Quarterfinals - 11:30am - 5pm ET - Tennis Channel

Saturday, September 5

Semifinals - 9am - 5pm ET - pickleballtv
Semifinals - 11am - 5pm ET - Tennis Channel

Sunday, September 6

Championships - 10am - 4pm ET - pickleballtv
Championships - 11am - 4pm ET - Tennis Channel

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Now let’s take a look at the draws.

Women’s Singles

Top Storylines:

825 - As of publishing, this is the number of days since Anna Leigh Waters' last match loss on the PPA Tour
Sofia Sewing is making her PPA Tour debut after signing earlier in the year and she is the 46 seed - she is easily a top 10 talent, but needs to earn points to prove it - North Carolina is a great place to start
(24) Keilly Ulery is coming off her second PPA Challenger gold in Atlanta this past weekend and looking to make a deep run, but will have to get past Dunlap and Lea Jansen just to make the quarterfinals

Predictions:

Semifinalists: (1) Anna Leigh Waters, (3) Kaitlyn Christian, (8) Kiora Kunimoto, and (4) Brooke Buckner
Finals: Anna Leigh beats Kiora Kunimoto for the title

Men’s Singles

Top Storylines:

Top 3 - Haworth, Staksrud, and Johnson are going to be the overwhelming favorites to win every tournament in the 2026-2027 season, unless someone else makes a tremendous run
(8) John Lucian Goins hasn't won a tournament in the past 52 weeks, but won two in August last year - can he get hot again? (He just beat Ben Johns by double pickling him Wednesday morning)
(57) Matthew Barlow is a name to watch out for - he did really well in the Mesa Cup earlier this year and his seed is not indicative of his level

Predictions:

Semifinalists: (1) Chris Haworth, (8) John Lucian Goins, (2) Federico Staksrud, and (42) Cam Chaffin
Finals: Haworth beats Staksrud in the finals

Mixed Doubles

Top Storylines:

192 - As of publishing, this is the number of days since Anna Leigh Waters and Ben Johns' last match loss on the PPA Tour
(2) Anna Bright and Hayden Patriquin are playing together after starring for the St. Louis Shock during the MLP season - they took over the two seed from the Johnson siblings toward the tail end of the 25-26 PPA season
(13) Lea Jansen and Jonathan Truong (LJ) are a unique pairing for mixed - I don't think I have ever seen them play together - let's see how far the new partnership can go

Predictions:

Semifinalists: (1) Anna Leigh Waters/Ben Johns, (3) Jorja & JW Johnson, (3) Anna Bright/Hayden Patriquin, and (4) Rachel Rohrabacher/Gabe Tardio
Finals: Anna Leigh and Ben beat Anna and Ben for the first victory of the 26-27 season

Women’s Doubles

Top Storylines:

354 - As of publishing, this is the number of days since Anna Leigh Waters and Anna Bright's last match loss on the PPA Tour - if you haven't figured it out yet, I keep an excel sheet for just this purpose - if AB and AL win in Cary, they will officially be over a year since their last loss together
(5) Sofia Sewing is pairing up with Catherine Parenteau to start her PPA career - having the five seed really helps jumpstart Sewing's points
(2) Former Dallas Flash teammates, Johnson and Black, are partnered up again, looking to win a championship on the PPA Tour

Predictions:

Semifinalists: (1) Anna Bright/Anna Leigh Waters, (3) Parris Todd/Rachel Rohrabacher, (2) Jorja Johnson/Tyra Black, and (4) Lacy Schneemann/Tina Pisnik
Finals: Anna Bright and Anna Leigh beat Jorja and Tyra to make it over a one year unbeaten streak

Men’s Doubles

Top Storylines:

297 - As of publishing, this is the number of days since Gabe Tardio and Ben Johns' last match loss on the PPA Tour
(6) Eric Oncins and Noe Khlif, 2024 Miami Pickleball Club that ended up getting traded for each other in 2025 are teamed up before they each grab a new partner
A whopping two days after screaming at each other from across the net in the MLP Finals, (3) Federico Staksrud and Hayden Patriquin are playing as partners on the PPA Tour

Predictions:

Semifinalists: (1) Gabe Tardio/Ben Johns, (3) Fed Staksrud/Hayden Patriquin, (2) Andrei Daescu/Christian Alshon, and (4) Tama Shimabukuro/JW Johnson
Finals: Gabe and Ben beat Andrei and Christian in the finals