The last tournament of the 2025-2026 PPA Tour season is now in the books. In a move away from a calendar year season, the PPA Tour announced the change to a fall through spring season earlier in the year. The Finals have historically been held at the Life Time Rancho San Clemente, where they were held this year as well. The biggest change was this year the Finals were in May, as opposed to December. The weather was still picturesque, and the crowds were able to enjoy some high level pickleball.

There were two pro tournaments held side-by-side during the Finals. First and foremost, the tournament everyone knows as the Finals occurred - the top 8 players for singles and mixed doubles earned a spot and the top 16 for gender doubles also earned a spot. In doubles, the top seeds got to pick their partners, and mostly everyone went with their normal partners for the year.

In each event, the eight players/teams were divided into two pools and then played three pool play matches. Pool play matches were played once a day on Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday. The top two seeds from each pool then made the semifinals on Saturday. The top seed from Pool A played the second seed from Pool B, and vice versa. 

A points breakdown of how players earned points at the PPA Finals:

• Playing in a pool play match: 200 points
• Winning a pool play match: 300 points
• Winning a semifinal match: 700 points
• Winning a final match: 1,300 points

Meanwhile, at the same venue and at the same time, a PPA 500 event happened. Open level tournaments are worth 1,000 points to the winner, but this was worth 500. So it was worth half an Open, but 4x as much as a PPA Challenger event.

Let’s get into the action.

Ben and Anna Leigh Once Again Earn Double Gold

Anna Leigh Waters and Ben Johns have been the standard for three years now, and they finished the 2025-2026 season making sure everyone knows it.

At the start of the tournament, the big news was Anna Leigh pulled out of singles for this one. This came as no surprise, as she had a knee brace on her left knee last week in Atlanta, with a heavy tape job on her right knee. In her place, Liz Truluck took the last spot and Kate Fahey became the top seed.

In mixed doubles, Anna Leigh and Ben ran the table in pool play, and then faced off against Anna Bright and Hayden Patriquin in hte semis, a round before everyone thought. In the semis, Anna and Hayden looked like they were still waking up, losing 11-0 in the first game. However, they came storming back, winning game 2 11-7, the only game loss either Ben or Anna Leigh took all week. In the finals, they beat Rachel Rohrabacher and Christian Alshon, 11-5, 11-5, 11-5. 

In women’s doubles, Anna Bright and Anna Leigh Waters swept the competition. In pool play they went 3-0, winning by a combined score of 66-22, or an average of 11-3.67. And this was against three teams in the top eight.

In the semis, they beat Lacy Schneemann and Tina Pisnik, who made the semis in a tiebreaker over Jorja Johnson and Tyra Black, in point differential. In the finals, the Annas won 11-7, 11-6, 11-2, over Parris Todd and Rachel Rohrabacher.

In men’s doubles, Ben and Gabe dominated just like the Annas. They did not lost a game all week, including the finals, and they ended the first half of their 2026 year on a high, pickling Fed and Andrei in the last game of the finals.

Chris Haworth and Kate Fahey Dominated Singles

With Anna Leigh out in singles, the field was “wide open”. Except it really wasn’t. Kate Fahey is VERY clearly the second best woman in singles in the world. She beat her pool play competition 66-24, or 11-4. She didn’t lose a game all weekend, and even pickled her friend Brooke Buckner, in the finals.

In men’s singles, there was a surprise upset in pool play: Connor Garnett beat #1 seed, Chris Haworth, 12-10, 11-6, and Garnett went 3-0 in pool play, earning the #1 seed. Haworth then had to play Federico Staksrud in the semis, a round earlier than was predicted. 

In the semis, Chris won the first game 11-5, and Fed came back in game two, winning 11-4. In the deciding game, Haworth pickled Fed. In the finals, Haworth made quick work of John Lucian Goins, 11-2, 11-8.

The 500 Point Tournament was full of action

While the top players were playing Championship Court, a lot of PPA pros played in the 500 tournament simultaneously on Grandstand Court. 

Results from the PPA 500

Women’s Singles

🥇 Kiora Kunimoto

🥈 Sahra Dennehy

🥉 Cailyn Campbell

Men’s Singles

🥇 Rafa Lenhard

🥈 Tama Shimabukuro

🥉 Zane Ford

Mixed Doubles

🥇 Isabella Dunlap/Nico Acevedo

🥈 Layne Sleeth/Tyler Loong

🥉 Cailyn Campbell/Blaine Hovenier

Women’s Doubles

🥇 Sahra Dennehy/Danni Townsend

🥈 Genie Erokhina/Lingwei Kong

🥉 Isabella Dunlap/Layne Sleeth

Men’s Doubles

🥇 Tama Shimabukuro/Yuta Funemizu

🥈 Clayton Powell/Nico Acevedo

🥉 Cason Campbell/Adam Harvey

PPA Finals Results

Women’s Singles

🥇 Kate Fahey

🥈 Brooke Buckner

Men’s Singles

🥇 Chris Haworth

🥈 John Lucian Goins

Mixed Doubles

🥇 Anna Leigh Waters/Ben Johns

🥈 Rachel Rohrabacher/Christian Alshon

Women’s Doubles

🥇 Anna Bright/Anna Leigh Waters

🥈 Rachel Rohrabacher/Parris Todd

Men’s Doubles

🥇 Gabe Tardio/Ben Johns

🥈 Federico Staksrud/Andrei Daescu