PPA Masters: Preview

The Masters

Kicking off the year with a bang, The Masters in Palm Beach, California, will be a Slam, earning winners 2,000 PPA points. As tradition, harkening back to tennis Grand Slam events of the past, players will be dressed all in white.

As this is a Slam, The Masters will be a progressive draw; qualifiers were played today so the main draws are set.

Storylines that are making waves:

• It was announced today Kate Fahey is no longer with Joola, having signed with ProXR. How much did Kate benefit from having a Joola canon for a paddle? Though she’ll still be great in the field of women’s singles, will she continue to challenge Anna Leigh, or see a decline?

• Jilly B withdrew from mixed (she was playing with CJ Klinger)— is this yet another way she’s expressing her distaste for the PPA? Or did the Twitter feud play a role?

• Selkirk allegedly told its contracted players they could only play with the new Project 008 paddle, despite several other models being tested & approved by the new UPA-A certification process. Is this a power play, or simply a marketing push for their newest Selkirk Labs release?

• Ben & Collin Johns are playing one last tournament together— unless they miss each other too much and reunite again. After all, Ben told his sister on her newly minted podcast, The Hannah Johns Podcast, that “it’s not forever.” He went on to say, “It was healthier for both of us to get a bit of a change-up, maybe get some more enthusiasm for the game.” We would also like to see more on-court enthusiasm (fewer Collin meltdowns).

What to watch in each bracket:

Women’s Singles

We all know the usual suspects: Anna Leigh, Brooke Buckner, and Lea Jansen. And Kaitlyn Christian not far behind. But let’s talk about some qualifiers and other interesting players to watch….

• Coming out #1 from qualies is Cailyn Campbell, a 14-year-old phenom from Florida, and sister of fellow-qualifier Cason Campbell (known for his tattered, lucky hat). She’ll play #7 Parris Todd, at least according to the 2024 rulebook. But, sometimes PPA’s random seeding has other things to say. We will see when draws are finalized tomorrow.

• Judit Castillo had to go through qualies this tournament, since she’s currently unsigned. She finished just behind Cailyn in points, and will face Catherine Parenteau.

• Genie Bouchard had to withdraw from Daytona Beach due to an eye injury, but appears to be well recovered and is coming in at #15. If she beats Hannah Blatt in the first round, she’ll likely face Kaitlyn Christian then Catherine Parenteau to get to semis.

• Women’s singles will start Wednesday, since the bracket starts with R32.

Men’s Singles

• Ben Johns will not be playing singles at this event — with this being a Slam, not playing in singles is a choice. Is he done trying to top the charts in singles in 2025?

• Our guy Tyler has been under the weather, but is still going to gut it out in singles. If he is well enough to beat Wyatt Stone in R64, he’ll face off with Tyson McGuffin. Now THAT will be something to watch!

• Trying his hand at singles again is James Ignatowich, who hasn’t played in singles since Bristol last August, where he fell to Noe Khlif in R64. This time he takes on Eric Roddy in R64, and if he wins, he’ll face Jack Sock in R32 (assuming Jack can beat the qualifier)

Mixed Doubles

• Tennis fans, get ready to swoon: Jack Sock and Genie Bouchard are pairing up for the first time. They have a decent shot at making it to R16, where they’d need to get through Fed & Catherine to move on to the QF.

• Anna Leigh and Ben are back… enough said?

• James Ignatowich is partnering with his ex’s BFF, Rachel Rohrabacher. Will there be drama or nah? They have a favorable corner of the bracket, but you never know which James you’re gonna get. So, good luck, Rachel.

Women’s Doubles

• Another tried & true matchup that never actually gets old: Waters & Parenteau vs. Bright & Rohrabacher. We expect to see them in the finals, but both teams should keep a look over their shoulder for Flash teammates Jorja & Hurricane Tyra (#3 seed).

• Brooke Buckner & Chao Yi Wang are partnering again; they’ve played together at 5 previous event and have a 16-10 record together. It’s an uphill battle, though, as their corner of the bracket includes Jorja & Tyra, and Kate Fahey & Tina Pisnik.

• Not to be overlooked, Lea Jansen & Lucy Kovalova are reuniting, having most recently won bronze together in Las Vegas. It’s sure to be a fiery matchup worth a watch!

Men’s Doubles

• After notably splitting with JW Johnson, Dylan Frazier is playing with Pablo Tellez. Pablo hasn’t had the best results as of late, so it’ll be interesting to see how they pair together, with Dylan taking the dominant left side.

• Speaking of JW Johnson, he’s also lost Gabe Tardio as his partner after this event. So enjoy their partnership while you can— going forward, Gabe will be joining up with Ben Johns. (Still no word on who JW’s ongoing partner will be for the rest of 2025).

• There’s a few other brand new partnerships that should be interesting to watch: Christian Alshon & Andrei Daescu, Matt Wright & Quang Duong, Riley Newman & Ivan Jakovljevic, AJ Koller & Blaine Hovenier. A new-ish partnership, Ignatowich & CJ Klinger (they won silver in their only previous partnership, in Milwaukee).

PickleballTV is now available on the Apple store.

Watch via Prime Video and other TV services, or download the app (with rewind/pause functionality) at pickleballtv.com or on the Apple store.

(Though it has not been published, we expect PPA will still air Showcase courts on YouTube)

If you’re planning to attend the PPA Masters, you can secure your tickets at a discount using code KOTC.

Watch Episode 120 - The Awards show!

As both Jimmy & Tyler were sick last week, they were unable to do their normal event preview pod.