The Kawamotos Win Their First Ever Gold - Cincinnati PPA Recap

The PPA Tour was back in action in Cincinnati, Ohio, for the first time in two years. The tour skipped Cincinnati in 2024 due to the host venue, the Lindner Family Tennis Center, being under construction.

To display how different things are in the pro pickleball landscape from the tournament two years ago, take a look at Ben Johns. He earned his 100th medal at the PPA Baird Cincinnati Open in 2023, and now he has over 160 career medals on the PPA Tour.

The top news story, though, has to be Jade and Jackie Kawamoto winning their first ever gold medals on the PPA Tour.

Let’s get into the action.

Jade and Jackie Kawamoto earned their first gold medal of their careers in Cincinnati

The identical twin sisters have been regarded by most pundits as top talents for the past two to three years, but have yet to find gold. Until Sunday.

The former University of Dayton Flyers Tennis players now both work full-time for the NCAA while also balancing playing pickleball professionally. Because of their jobs, they often playa  few less tournaments per year than the rest of the field. While Jade is a lefty and Jackie is a righty who prefers the left side, they don’t play doubles together all that often.   

In fact, the Kawamotos have played together in only three events in 2025. They made the quarterfinals in PPA Mesa in February. In April, they upset Rachel Rohrabacher and Anna Bright in North Carolina (their last tournament together) and took home a bronze medal. 

On Sunday, the Kawamotos beat Hurricane Tyra Black and Jorja Johnson in five games to secure the gold. They won 8-11, 7-11, 11-6, 11-8, 11-7.

Having lost the first two games AND being down early in game three, the odds did not look good for Jade and Jackie. But they rallied to win 11-6, and then they just kept momentum to take the crown. 

Their semifinal win over Anna Bright and Anna Leigh Waters was perhaps even more impressive. That scoreline was 7-11, 11-6, 11-9. This was the first time for the Kawamotos playing against ‘The Annas’, and they showed some mental fortitude going down in the first game in that match as well.

In the quarters, Jade and Jackie got new partners Lea Jansen and Rachel Rohrabacher, who were the three seed. So they beat the #1, #3, and #4 seeds on their way to victory in Cincinnati. 

Gabe Tardio and Ben Johns are at the top of Men’s Doubles

Gabe and Ben have won four gold medals in a row in men’s doubles. While the competition at the top of men’s doubles is fierce, Gabe and Ben have separated themselves as the top dog, and everyone else is fighting for second. 

Their performance in the final was the most clinical things I have seen in men’s doubles in a while. They played nearly perfect pickleball for three straight games, beating Christian Alshon and Andrei Daescu 11-2, 11-6, 11-9.

Cincinnati marked the second straight event beating Alshon and Daescu in the finals. 

In the finals, they beat CJ Klinger and JW Johnson, 11-5, 11-9. This is significant because JW and CJ are the last team to beat Ben and Gabe, having done so in Atlanta in May. So it is now four events and four months in a row for Ben and Gabe to stay undefeated.

Paddle Drama Caused a Ruckus in Cincinnati

September 1 marked a significant deadline for paddles to be full certified by the UPA-A, as opposed to the interim certification they had been working under for the previous months. This deadline date was known to paddle manufacturers since January.

However, there were many problems. The two biggest companies who didn’t have approvals were Pikkl (Gabe and Tyra, among others) and Proton (Genie Bouchard, Meghan Dizon, Andrei Daescu, CJ Klinger, among others). Certain JOOLA models were not certified. Parris Todd’s Franklin paddle was certified the day the event started.

Players were left scrambling, buying paddles from the Pickleball Central tent, in order to compete. No less than 15 players had to play with a paddle that they were not used to in this event. 

For a much more detailed breakdown of everything that happened, as it relates to paddle certification in Cincinnati, check out the great write up by our Director Content, Alex E. Weaver:

Christian Alshon Earned his Third Gold Medal of the Year in Singles

In his second event since publicly announcing that Leigh Waters is no longer his full-time coach, Alshon won gold in singles.

Eerily similar to the Kawamotos, Alshon had to beat the #4, #3, and #1 seeds, to win the whole event. He beat #4 Jaume Martinez Vich 11-6 in the third game in the quarters. In the semifinals, Christian played unbelievable, beating the #1 seed, Hunter Johnson, 11-3, 11-7. In the finals, he was able to beat #3, Connor Garnett, 11-8, 11-1. 

Alshon was the 6 seed in Cincinnati, but winning a Slam will definitely catapult him into the top five, with momentum on his side.

Anna Leigh Waters Wins Two Gold Medals and a Bronze

Despite losing in the semifinals of women’s doubles, Anna Leigh had a very good weekend at a Slam. 

In singles, the GOAT put on a clinic, never losing a game. She won five matches in a row, all in two games. Her combined score in those five matches was 112-41, so an average scoreline of 11.1-4.1. Kate Fahey continues to cause problems for Waters, as she put up a fight in the finals, but fell just short in game two, 11-13. 

In mixed doubles, it was more of the same dominance from Waters and Ben Johns, as they won gold without dropping a game either. They won a combined 143-57, or 11-4.4. 

In the finals, Andrei and Anna Bright beat Waters and Johns the last time they played them. That was over a year ago, though, and the tides turned quickly in Cincinnati. Anna Leigh and Ben ended up winning 11-2, 11-8, 11-9. 

In women's Anna Bright and Anna Leigh earned bronze, beating Parris Todd and Catherine Parenteau on Sunday.

Wooden Pickleball Paddles are Next Up

The PPA Sacramento Vintage Open is coming up next on the PPA Tour, and it is a wooden paddle event for the pros. It begins Thursday, September 25th, with Championship Sunday falling on September 28th.

Full Results

Women’s Singles

🥇 Anna Leigh Waters

🥈 Kate Fahey

🥉 Catherine Parenteau

Men’s Singles

🥇 Christian Alshon

🥈 Connor Garnett

🥉 Hunter Johnson

Mixed Doubles

🥇 Anna Leigh Waters/Ben Johns

🥈 Anna Bright/Andrei Daescu

🥉 Jorja Johnson & JW Johnson

Women’s Doubles

🥇 Jade & Jackie Kawamoto

🥈 Jorja Johnson/Hurricane Tyra Black

🥉 Anna Bright/Anna Leigh Waters

Men’s Doubles

🥇 Gabe Tardio/Ben Johns

🥈 Christian Alshon/Andrei Daescu 

🥉 CJ Klinger/JW Johnson