STORYLINES FOR THE ZIMMER BIOMET CAPE CORAL OPEN (FEB 9-15, 2026)

OVERALL TOP 5:

• URGENT CARE: Many pros were fighting illness in Minnesota – will everyone be 100% in Cape Coral?
• ROLLER COASTER TEMPS: From 80s at the Masters to negatives in Minny to 75 and mostly sunny in FLA.
• NOT SINGULARLY FOCUSED: Anna Leigh Waters, Ben Johns, & Parris Todd sitting out singles.
• 30/30/30 CLUB: Anna Bright is one gold from having at least 30 golds, silvers, and bronzes.
• OPEN IT UP: 1,000 points to the winners.

VENUE/TOURNEY/TV:

• Year #2 at The Courts in Cape Coral, Florida. 2025 event was held in March.
• Event #3 in 2026 features a progressive draw, one round per bracket per day.
• Coverage on PickleballTV begins with the round of 16, starting at 10am Eastern Thursday to Sunday.

WOMEN’S SINGLES:

• Defending Medalists: Anna Leigh Waters, Lea Jansen, Kate Fahey
• Kate Fahey (1) and Kaitlyn Christian (2) are the top seeds.
• Can Liz Truluck (8) keep up her strong play after a run to bronze at the Masters?
• 17 year old Kiora Kunimoto (17) made the semis in MN, could have a tough R32 match vs. Devidze (12).
• WATCH OUT FOR: Kate Fahey (1) – wears the one next to her name, can she take it to a title with ALW out of the draw?

MEN’S SINGLES:

• Defending Medalists: Christian Alshon, Jaume Martinez Vich, John Lucian Goins
• Hunter Johnson is the top seed and Federico Staksrud (2).
• Haworth is now the 4 seed, has earned his way there from the 57 seed in mid 2025.
• Goins (9) started his ascent in singles here in 2025, could face Bellamy (6) in R16.
• Great R64 youth vs. experience matchup: Shimabukuro (29) vs. McGuffin (40)
• WATCH OUT FOR: Hunter Johnson (1) – won with the one seed in MN, confident player heading to FLA.

MIXED DOUBLES:

• Defending Medalists: Waters/Johns, Bright/JW Johnson, Parenteau/Alshon
• Waters/Johns return as the 1 seed, the Johnsons return as the 2 seed (neither team played in MN).
• Hurricane Tyra Black, after winning in MN, is paired with the lefty Mo Alhouni as the 11 seed.
• Jade Kawamoto and Andrei Daescu are a dangerous 6 seed as 1st time partners.
• Dekel Bar and Parris Todd (10) are 5-0 as a team, having won their only tourney – Red Rock Open in 2025.
• WATCH OUT FOR: Rachel Rohrabacher/Christian Alshon (4) – Alshon won in MN with Black, can he make it two in a row with Rohrabacher and his “take over the court” style?

WOMEN’S DOUBLES:

• Defending Medalists: Parenteau/Waters, Bright/Rohrabacher, Black/Jones
• Waters and Bright are the (1) seed, Parenteau and Rohrabacher (2) are the second seed
• Extremely athletic first time partners Fahey and Schneemann (6) look to make a run.
• Potential quarterfinal to watch: Kawamoto sisters (4) vs. Todd/Truong (5)
• WATCH OUT FOR: Jorja Johnson and Tyra Black (3) – back together and have the firepower to take the title.

MEN’S DOUBLES:

• Defending Medalists: Daescu/Johns, Alshon/Staksrud, JW Johnson/Klinger
• Top seed is Johns and Tardio, the 2 seed is Alshon/Patriquin.
• Alshon/Patriquin come off a heartbreaking loss to Tardio/Daescu in MN, dropping game 5 12-10.
• Potential Q to watch:(4) JW Johnson/Klinger vs. (7) Khlif/Tellez
• WATCH OUT FOR: Johns and Tardio who have traded the #1 overall ranking back & forth over the past 2 weeks and are back together after Johns skipped MN.