Twinning is WINNING! + Trouble in Paradise?!

The third slam of the year wrapped up yesterday in Cincinnati, Ohio and while the results on championship sunday were, for the most part, chalk, there is still plenty to talk about. I break it all down here, and discuss my own results, of course! 

The sweetheart story of the tournament is 100% the Kawamoto sisters Jackie and Jade winning their first ever PPA gold together in women’s doubles. En route to the title, they beat Lea Jansen/Rachel Rohabacher, myself and Anna Leigh Waters, and in a best of five thriller and reverse sweep they bested the red-hot duo of Jorja Johnson and Tyra Black. Someone feel free to correct me if I’m wrong, but I think the last time a best of five reverse sweep happened was in 2022 when Catherine Parenteau and ALW did it against Jessie Irvine and I at Nationals. 

Obviously I wish that I had been playing on Sunday, but I was really happy for Jackie and Jade when I saw they had won. They are so sweet (& sassy if you know them!) and impossible to not love. Them getting their first gold medal in such dramatic fashion while play playing together in their home state with both their parents in attendance and I’m sure a bunch of friends is beyond heartwearming. The title is well-earned and I wouldn’t be surprised if this result buoys them to many more podium finishes. 

The start of Anna Leigh and I’s renewed partnership went swimmingly- three straight titles without dropping a game. In the last two tournaments, we’ve obviously medaled, but it’s no secret and it would be disingenuous of me to say that gold is not our goal/expectation. Both losses have come in three games in the semifinals and have followed the same pattern- winning the first game and dropping the next two. 

I’m not certain what happened against the Kawamotos, in particular, we were ahead big in game 3 and it flipped quite quickly. Of course, some bad luck, but undoubtedly some strategy things to re-evaluate. Losing to them cost me more than the match, I lost plenty of sleep that night as well- my mind swimming with all the things I should’ve done differently and pondering what needs to change. AL and I will regroup and I’m not planning on taking much of any time off after this event. When this is in your inbox I will be practicing back in Florida, lol. 

On Thursday’s edition I discussed a lot of the happenings with the UPA-A and the new paddle regulations. There were 12 total unique players on Championship Sunday, and of them, 5 (Andrei, Jackie, Jade, Gabe, Tyra) were not using their sponsors’ paddles. Even more interesting, only Jorja was using a paddle that had been unaltered since the implementation of the new regulations. 

The most popular brand among the people forced to change their paddles was definitely Joola, but Franklin and Paddletek were also chosen by some players. I am personally one of the less anal pros about paddles, but I think a lot of the things from this week go to show that, for the most part, you shouldn’t blame too much of your pickleball play on your paddle and shouldn’t go hunting for a new flavor of the week all the time. Show some loyalty! 

I think find the shape you like best and then get the best paddle in that shape you can get your hands on (Joola, IMO for the most part!). I always feel like I’m pulling teeth to get people to try out a standard shape, which is what ALW and I use, but I genuinely believe it is the best shape for most amateurs. Yes, it looks like a frying pan, but once you’re used to it the “elongated” paddles look like thumbs- it’s all about perspective. I can write more on paddle shapes and setups another time if you guys are interested. 

My main point on this is that don’t be blaming your paddle for your faults. Focus on getting better and on self-reflection and evaluation, even if it is easier to say you just need the dopamine hit of a shiny new toy. 

Andrei and I had a great tournament, and I have to shout him out- the guy made two finals while using three different paddles over the course of the week. Really impressive level of mental toughness. At the start of the week he was saying things like “figure it out man”, “no excuses”, and that verbiage disappeared as the week went on. Truly a stud. 

I love playing with Andrei and we battled hard against AL and Ben on Sunday. Got kinda smoked in the first game but games two and three were competitive and we had chances. We also beat a lot of good teams en route to the final, including Tyra/Hayden and Jorja/JW (my first win over them this year!). I’m not even sure honestly how games 2 and 3 were close in the final as I always felt we were on our back foot and didn’t have a go-to pattern that was working, but I think that just speaks to how well we compete. 

The new UPA schedule for the 2025-2026 season was recently released, and as such partnership decisions for the first half of 2026 will start to be made soon. It’s always a delicate dance of politely blowing people off while exploring your options, lol. Basically online dating but we all know each other. I expect there will be a trend to many more established mixed teams next year. 2024 was more set, 2025 more exploratory, and I think 2026 people will shift back to longer-term commitments. I am thinking I will try to play 66-75% of my events with one person- leaving myself a bit of flexibility while still having a designated partner. 

There’s kind of two ways to think about mixed - is the goal to beat Ben and AL? Or to be confident you will not really lose to anyone except them? It’s a question of whether to prioritize the ceiling of a team or the floor. Feel free to reply with your thoughts on what I should do! Lots and lots of decisions to be made. 

That’s all for this edition folks! Congrats to all the champions on Sunday- Ben and Gabe were especially impressive in men’s doubles and AL’s win over Kate was as gritty as they come. I have to give extra congrats to Christian though since I did warm him up and can therefore take at least some credit for his W🤪. 

See everyone on Thursday! Excited for a few weeks at home! Don’t forget to tell a pickleball friend to subscribe if you are enjoying!!! 😊❤️You can share with them this link🤪.