The pickleball news cycle is crazy. It’s like it’s a quiet week then BOOM- it’s ‘everything, everywhere, all at once’. Once some of the dust settles with these big MLP trades (Max Freeman to the Mad Drops!!! Zane to the Slice!!!) I will write more about my thoughts on all of that movement in depth, but I didn’t want this story of Gabe reaching #1 to get lost in all the madness.
i said what i said and i meant what i meant
Gabe Tardio, King of Vietnam
When Gabe partnered with Ben Johns in 2025, it wasn’t immediate smooth sailing from the jump. I’ve been close with Gabe for a while, and like almost everyone else who has played with Ben, Gabe was nervous at first about being “called up”, and it took him a bit to really find his role within the partnership and get comfortable.
But get comfortable, he did, and now they are scarily dominant. Together, they have won 7 of the 8 last tournaments and have won many of them quite easily. Their dominance even caused the split of the established and successful teams of Christian Alshon/Andrei Daescu and Federico Staksrud/Hayden Patriquin, all in an attempt to beat them.
Before partnering with Gabe, Ben felt more vulnerable than ever in men’s. He and Collin had been slipping for a while, he failed to win with Hayden in Tucson, he failed to win with Christian in Malaysia, and he also failed to win with Dekel in Vietnam. I do think Ben is, undoubtedly, our GOAT, and a lot of his poorer results in general are due to the pressure associated with playing with him and his partners underperforming. But Ben is not faultless in this - he is best player, but not the best partner.
But, he and Gabe turned the corner, and now I actually think their dispositions couldn’t be more perfect for each other both on court and off. My favorite part of the Gabe/Ben dynamic is how much Gabe is completely and utterly himself. He actually might be the best interview in pickleball, and he does ANYTHING but kiss Ben’s ass😂. He openly cheers for Hayden when he plays against Ben in mixed, and when asked “what have you learned from Ben Johns?”, his response was “I haven’t learned much” 😂😂😂. Gabe is definitely my 🐐 on the mic.
The Facolos partnership (NOT sponsorship) is huge for him and I cannot wait for his first trip to Vietnam, I’m sure he will be a bona fide celebrity there - the promo Falcolos is doing in the US has been impressive, I can’t imagine what they are doing in their home base country.
Hot take: Gabe is better than Ben at Men’s Doubles
All of my glazing aside from a personality perspective, I would actually argue that Gabe is not only the best men’s doubles player in the world by ranking (at least for the next 2 days), but in terms of actual level. I am only talking about men’s doubles here, not mixed, and not overall.
If you don’t watch pro pickleball closely, you might think what I’m saying is crazy, unheard of, or even silly… how can you compare Gabe and Ben? Their roles are completely different. And you’d be correct on that third point. The Right and Left sides in men’s are only becoming increasingly specialized, and it’s so difficult to compare players with different specialties. But if you watch back their matches closely… who hits more shots at the kitchen line? Who is more threatening, more often? I’ll give you a hint: Ben hits a lot more balls at the line than Gabe does.
I have watched A LOT of pro pickleball in the last few weeks through the Brighter Pickleball Bootcamp. I have watched more men’s doubles than probably any other woman alive (woo, I’m #1 at something!!!). And I can tell you, right now, with my whole chest - a dead ball to Gabe Tardio’s forehand is an absolute, complete-and-total, death sentence. Ben Johns has no spot on the court as dangerous as Gabe is balanced and at extension whether out of the air or off the bounce.
The most disgusting shot you’ve ever seen in your life is literally routine and high percentage for Gabe
Gabe is higher volatility than Ben - his defense isn’t as good, he can be a bit more in and out mentally, and at times he might struggle to drop more (but when he’s on? The drops are a JOKE!). Ben is still the undeniable 🐐 of our game on the men’s side, but at the kitchen line in men’s doubles, Gabe’s length, elasticity, and INSANELY DEEP TOOLBOX simply can’t be beat. I won’t name names, but I am far from the only pro that thinks this. I haven’t even discussed his insane counter at his “chicken wing”, but that’s absolutely absurd too.
The sky is the limit for Gabe and I fear for all of us if he got a little more serious with his drilling, sleeping, preparation, fitness, diet, recovery, match review… you know, the things the rest of us are doing. But he is doing just fine as is, and is still the SCARIEST person to have in front of you as a left side player in men’s doubles. He may lose the #1 ranking on Monday when his points from Australia fall off, but what do you think? It’s hard to compare left and right side players, but is Gabe the best men’s doubles player in the world?
Love always,
XOXO, your internet bestie, Anna❤️