The Kings and Queens of the (Pickleball) World(s)! 🌎🏆🤩

PPA Worlds seems to get bigger and better every single year. This particular event being the PPA Tour’s 100th only made it even more special. I apologize for this newsletter being delayed- right after my bronze match Sunday, I drove to Austin for a super fun content shoot with an exciting brand I COULD NOT be happier to be partnered with. To say I am excited for you guys to see the things we recorded would be the understatement of the century. I’m currently sitting in the Austin airport writing this with my cowboy hat on😂🤠 (are people looking at me weird? yes. do I care? no. is the hat squeezing my head a little and making it hard to think? yes. could I fit it in my suitcase? no😂.)

On my drive to Austin, I pondered what I would write about in this newsletter. It simply felt like there was too much to cover! SO much has happened over the course of the weekend, but without further ado, let’s do our best to cover as much as we can.

On the male side, this was undoubtedly Federico Staksrud’s tournament. I hereby pronounce him the King of the (Pickleball) World. In his post-match interviews after both the men’s doubles semifinal and final Federico displayed a level of vulnerability you don’t often see from… anyone. It was heartwarming, moving, and a beautiful display of the passion that makes not only our sport, but sports in general, so special. I don’t know if anyone works harder in pickleball than Federico, and I am SO happy for him that his hard work bore fruit this weekend of all weekends. He deserves it.

Federico played great this weekend, ending a 5-match losing streak against Chris Haworth in singles, reclaiming the #1 ranking spot in men’s singles, and also proving he is elite on the right side. It’s my understanding that he will be primarily playing the right next year, so it’s definitely huge for his confidence that he is already so competent over there after not even that many tournament reps. I also thought Federico played amazingly in mixed as he and Parris pushed Hayden and I hard in the quarterfinal.

The last thing I’ll say about Federico is that he might be a confirmed newsletter reader? For those of you who were around last Monday, you know that his tweet is verbatim a heading I used in that edition. Most likely a coincidence, but it just goes to show both how much Federico loves Hayden in that immediately after winning he wants to praise him, and that Hayden being very good is a sentiment shared by pretty much all pros.

Anna Leigh won her 5th straight triple crown this week and captured her 168th PPA title, surpassing Ben’s record. There really aren’t enough words to say about Anna Leigh and her dominance, which you can tell by the PPA’s posts, LOL. Not only is she an incredible player, but she is an incredible competitor. Incredible isn’t even powerful enough of a word to describe her as a competitor. On top of it, she is an amazing person. (sidenote: it’s a personal pet peeve of mine when people describe elite athletes and other successful people as “a better person than they are ___”. This is not really statistically possible. Take an NFL starting QB - there are only 32 of them. How could any of them be a better person than they are player?!?! Such a silly thing to say).

AL overcame some challenges this week - Hayden and I pushed her and Ben to 3 (again), there was a bizarre technical warning timeout fiasco in her semifinal that cost her a game against Kaitlyn Christian, Kate pushed her hard in the final, and in women’s we had to overcome some amazing teams and a very hot Kate/Tina in the quarters.

In women’s, AL and I continue to evolve and played at a very high level this week. Additionally, our post-match interviews this week were pretty electric if I do say so myself, I hope you guys tuned in! In mixed, I do think this was Hayden and I’s best match against Ben and AL to date as it was less “redline” dependent. That being said, I am getting tired of saying there were “positives”, and I would like to just WIN, but we have to trust the process and keep working.

Semifinal Saturday could very well have been the best day of pickleball ever. The day started at 10AM and wasn’t over until roughly 915PM. And only 10 matches were played. Do you realize how INSANE that is?!?!

Of the 10 matches, 7 went three games, and only one wasn’t competitive and it was the last one of the day (JW/CJ vs Andrei/Christian). Beyond just outright playing better, such a dominant scoreline leaves me thinking that JW and CJ must have handled the mental and physical fatigue of playing so late better than Andrei and Christian.

Every other match on Saturday delivered, and it just goes to show how the level of our sport keeps on rising. I left the venue that night thinking about how lucky and thankful I was to be playing on the PPA Tour. Of course, there are tons of other amazing things going on in the space of professional pickleball (other tours, international growth, etc), but from a pure level perspective, there is nothing like playing on the PPA. And as someone who really loves challenging myself and trying to be the best I can be at everything I do, I feel so fortunate every time I get to step out on center court and show my chops against the best in the world. And I think everyone who played on Saturday at the biggest, grandest, and most prestigious event of the year would share that sentiment.

However, Saturday was not all roses and highlights. Rachel Rohrabacher suffered an injury to her hamstring during her semifinal match that definitely affected her play in her and Jade’s eventual loss to Catherine and Parris. The match remained close, and that just goes to show: Rachel’s fight, how good Jade is, and how difficult it is mentally to play against someone injured who you know you should beat. The tournament trainer had already left the venue (this can’t happen in the future), but thankfully, Parris’ trainer James was able to tape up Rachel’s leg so she could continue and finish the match. Very kind of him and Parris.

For those of you who watched my first YouTube vlog, THANK YOU! Here is my second vlog from our MLP Cup title!!! This was such a fun weekend and I feel so blessed that I get to be teammates with such amazing people. Also, shoutout Erik for his APP gold this weekend in Mesa! Yes king!!!

In other news, I have AN EXCITING ANNOUNCEMENT ON THURSDAY THAT YOU WON’T WANT TO MISS!!! I have been working hard on something that I am beyond ecstatic to share with you guys, and for now let’s just say that I will soon be getting to know a few of you very, very well😉😜😘. Don’t miss it and don’t miss out✨.

The last thing I feel compelled to say is that I wish more tournaments gave out cool memorabilia. I am not a particularly sentimental person and the medals don’t really do it for me. But a cowboy hat? Something I get to look great in? Stop the madness.

Thanks so much everyone for reading, and please watch my YouTube vlog and subscribe to my channel, share the newsletter with a friend, and stay tuned for Thursday👀👀👀 Love you guys! It was so amazing to meet so many of you at Worlds, nothing makes me happier than you guys reading and enjoying what I put out into the ether♥️.