The PPA Tour is back in action this weekend at the Veolia PPA Bristol Open, in Bristol, Tennessee.

It has been 45 days since the last PPA Tour event, the Orange County Cup, concluded. The UPA pickleball scene since then has been all Major League Pickleball, which just ended its regular season this past weekend in Salt Lake City.

The Bristol Open is being hosted at the Bristol Sportsplex, just south of downtown. This is an Open level event, as the name implies, so 1,000 PPA Points are on the line for the winners of each event.

Weather Outlook

The winds look good, at a max of 6mph. The biggest issue from a precipitation perspective looks like it is going to be Thursday, so keep an eye on that. The other factor here is humidity. With those mid to high 80 degree temperatures, an average humidity level of 80% is going to make it tough for players. Good thing they are using the new LifeTime ball, which bounces a little bit higher than some of the other balls.

How to Watch the PPA Bristol Open

The PPA Tour adopted this “hybrid” model of tournament structure in the spring of 2025, and it seems to be working well. Wednesday is singles, Thursday is mixed doubles, Friday is gender doubles, and all of those are through the quarterfinals. Saturday is then the semifinals of all events, and then Sunday is Championship Sunday.

PPA Challenger Series Winners Enter PPA Tour for First Time

Of note, there are six players entering the main draw in PPA Bristol, who are doing so through the Wildcard system set up through winning PPA CHallenger Series events. Those six players are:

Luca Mack - M Singles - Columbia, SC event
Matthew Finnerty - M Singles - Baton Rouge, LA event
Yufei Long - W Singles - Baron Rouge, LA event
Tea Pejic - W Singles - Portland, ME event
Nicole Conard - MXD - Rochester, NY event
Anouar Braham - MXD - Rochester, NY event

Let’s get into the action

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Women’s Singles

Top Storylines

Anna Leigh Waters is playing in Bristol, but she is not playing singles, so the girls is wide open
Kaitlyn Christian is the #1 seed, but she hasn’t won gold in over six months (last time was PPA Australia)
Anna Bright, who usually does not play singles in PPA, is playing in Bristol, and she is the #40 seed and faces a tough out in her first round matchup against Martina Frantova

Prediction

Semifinalists: (7) Salome Devidze, (9) Judit Castillo, (2) Parris Todd, and (5) Brooke Buckner
Finals: Brooke Buckner beats Judit Castillo in the finals

Men’s Singles

Top Storylines

Isn’t this bracket crazy? This is an Open level tournament, and there are two byes. Only Fed and Hunter get the byes.
Ben Johns is playing singles and is the #5 seed. I can’t remember the last time he was seeded so low. If he wants to make the semis, he is going to have to probably go through Max Freeman, Grayson Goldin, and Fed Staksrud.
Phoenix Flames teammates, Tyson McGuffin and Jack Sock could face each other in the quarterfinals, which would be entertaining.

Prediction

Semifinalists: (21) Grayson Goldin, (4) Jaume Martinez Vich, (2) Hunter Johnson, (3) Connor Garnett
Finals: Hunter beats Grayson in the finals

Mixed Doubles

Top Storylines

MLP teammates, Mua Bui and Yuta Funemizu are the #68 seed and will face off against other MLP teammates, Jalina Ingram and John Lucian Goins
(1) Anna Leigh Waters and Ben Johns - 6 titles, and (2) Jorja & JW Johnson - 2 titles, have combined to win eight of the 11 tournaments in 2025 in mixed doubles. These two teams are the overwhelming favorites in Bristol.
(4) Andrei Daescu and Anna Bright are teaming up for the firs time in a while, but they did beat Ben and Anna Leigh in Austin a little over a year ago

Predictions

Semifinalists: (1) Anna Leigh Waters/Ben Johns, (8) Parris Todd/Hayden Patriquin, (2) Jorja & JW Johnson, (4) Anna Bright/Andrei Daescu
Finals: Anna Leigh and Ben beat the Johnsons in four

Women’s Doubles

Top Storylines

(2) Jorja Johnson and Rachel Rohrabacher are teaming up for the first time together, I assume Rachel will play the left
Former Texas Ranchers teammates, Etta Tuionetoa and Tina Pisnik are teaming up, and they are the 7 seed - they could make a run, but will have to play against Jackie and Catherine in the quarters
(1) Anna Bright and Anna Leigh Waters are undefeated and have not lost a single game in two events. Can they keep that streak in Tennessee?

Predictions

Semifinalists: (1) Anna Bright/Anna Leigh Waters, (3) Catherine Parenteau/Jackie Kawamoto, (2) Jorja Johnson/Rachel Rohrabacher, (4) Parris Todd/Hurricane Tyra Black
Finals: Anna and Anna Leigh beat Jorja and Rachel in three

Men’s Doubles

Top Storylines

(4) Collin Johns is teaming up with MLP Challenger superstar James Delgado, but in a weird twist of fate, the PPA Tour has matched up the 4 seed in the 1 seed’s bracket, so they could face Ben and Gabe in the quarters
A very intriguing partnership is (14) Jack Sock and Augie Ge - they could beat some teams, but could face Stone/French in their first round, and then Andrei and JW
Speaking of Andrei and JW, they are the 3 seed, and haven’t played together on tour. I assume Andrei is going to slide over to the right side, like he did when he won gold earlier this year with Ben, but who knows.

Predictions

Semifinalists: (1) Gabe Tardio/Ben Johns, (5) Dylan Frazier/Noe Khlif, (2) Hayden Patriquin/Federico Staksrud, (3) Andrei Daescu/JW Johnson
Finals: Gabe and Ben beat Hayden and Fed in four