Waters Earns 40th Triple Crown in 1st Event Repping Nike & Franklin - The PPA Masters Recap

The Mission Hills Country Club hosted the Masters powered by Invited this past week - and boy, did it put on a show. The weather could not have been more perfect for pickleball in the California desert. Mostly clear skies with lows in the 50s and highs in the 70s highlighted the conditions all week long.

This was the first tournament of the 2026 year, and it gave us all the drama we could ask for. The typical suspects ended up winning all five events, but there were definitely storylines throughout the tournament. 

Let’s get into the action.

Anna Leigh Waters has gone through two huge changes in the last month. First it was announced that she had left Paddletek at the end of 2025. Then the rumors started swirling about who her new sponsors were.

On January 8th, it was announced that Waters had moved on to Franklin for her paddle sponsorship. On the first day she played in this tournament, it was officially announced that Waters signed with Nike for her apparel. Great job by The Dink’s Alex E. Weaver on covering all of Waters’ sponsorship deals.

With all of that being said, Waters still had to go out and perform at the Masters. Perform she did - Waters lost a total of five games, two in mixed doubles, two in women’s doubles, and one in singles. 

In women’s doubles, Kaitlyn Christian and Jessie Irvine took game one of the quarters, before Waters and Bright won 11-4, 11-0. In the semis, Jorja Johnson and Hurricane Tyra Black took a game off Waters and Bright. The scoreline was 11-7, 7-11,11-5.

In the finals, the Kawamoto twins put up a valiant effort in game one, losing 10-12. Waters and Bright won games two and three, 11-3, 11-2, for another gold medal together.

In mixed doubles, it was smooth sailing for Waters and Ben Johns until the finals. In fact, their combined scoreline was 110-36 in their first five matches, averaging a score of 11-3.6.

The mixed doubles final was by far the most entertaining on Championship Sunday. Waters and Johns faced off against Anna Bright and Hayden Patriquin. The match lasted more than two hours and went to five games. Waters and Johns were able to prevail, winning 11-7, 7-11, 9-11, 11-7, 11-4.

Lastly, Waters had a tough fight in women’s singles in her semifinal matchup against Kaitlyn Christian. She won game one 11-4, but Christian took a tightly contested game two, 11-9. Game three is where Waters regained momentum, winning 11-3.

In the finals, Waters couldn’t miss her shots against Kate Fahey. Waters beat the #2 seed 11-1, 11-4, despite Fahey playing well. Waters was on a tear and nothing was going to stop her from capturing her 40th triple crown.

Chris Haworth won his fourth PPA Gold and third since signing exclusively with the PPA Tour

Haworth is not afraid to say it - he wants the #1 seed. He is gunning to be the #1 ranked player in men’s singles this year. He has set that goal for himself and is not shy to say it in press conferences.

Men’s singles is by far the most volatile event in pro pickleball. We have seen multiple qualifiers and/or high seeds make deep runs into the quarterfinals, or better within the last year. So what Haworth did this week is even more impressive - he didn’t drop one game on his way to a gold medal at a Slam on the PPA Tour.

Here is how Haworth, the 6 seed in this tournament, won his most recent gold:

• Rd 64 - W - (69) Rio Newcombe - 11-2, 11-2
• Rd 32 - W - (26) Eric Oncins - 11-2, 11-3
• Rd 16 - W - (12) Noe Khlif - 11-6, 11-9
• QF - W - (3) Christian Alshon - 12-10, 12-10
• SF - W - (1) Hunter Johnson - 11-1, 11-6
• Final - W - (7) Jack Sick - 11-8, 11-8

Alshon gave Haworth the toughest run for his money, but Haworth was able to persevere and win points at the most crucial times of the match.

Haworth has a real shot at the #1 seed by the end of the 25-26 PPA season, as he is gaining points every event. His competition is just replacing points, but Haworth didn’t start earning PPA Points until August 2025. 

In my 26 Predictions for 2026, I predicted Haworth would be the #1 seed for the PPA Finals in May, and he is well on his way to accomplishing that goal with his win in Rancho Mirage.

Ben Johns and Gabe Tardio cruised to their first gold of the 2026 year

The men’s doubles field saw a big shake up at the top at the Masters - Christian Alshon and Fed Staksrud swapped partners from 2025. Hayden Patriquin is playing the early part of 2026 with Christian Alshon, whil Andrei Daescu is playing with Federico Staksrud during that same timeframe.

The question is, would the new partnerships be able to beat the most dominant men’s doubles team in the world in Gabe Tardio and Ben Johns? The answer - No.

Tardio and Johns picked up right where they left off 2025 - winning. Here are the results for Tardio and Johns, the #1 seed:

• Rd 32 - W (29) Tam Trinh/Juan Benitez - 11-7, 11-1
• Rd 16 - W (13) Zane Navratil/Blaine Hovenier - 11-5, 11-6
• QF - W (5) Dylan Frazier/Eric Oncins - 11-2, 11-7
• SF - W (4) CJ Klinger/JW Johnson - 11-7, 11-4
• Finals - W (3) Christian Alshon/Hayden Patriquin - 11-9, 11-4, 11-5

Yes, you read that correctly - Tardio and Johns didn’t drop a single game in their first five matches to start 2026, despite Tardio not learning anything from playing with Ben Johns.

Injuries cast a small shadow over the event, with three top players going down on Sunday

Three players sustained injuries in Rancho Mirage:

• Hunter Johnson - knee(s)
• Federico Staksrud - right triceps/shoulder
• Jack Sock - hamstring/leg

Johnson said in his press conference following his semifinal loss to Haworth that he was unable to move the way he wanted to and was frustrated with his knee soreness. On Sunday, he had both knees taped and was definitely hobbled by the end of his bronze match against Roscoe Bellamy. In fact, Johnson was in so much discomfort he called a medical timeout in the second game, had a physio come give him some treatment, and then played two more points before retiring.

I would be very surprised to see Hunter keep his registration in the Indoor National Championships this week, based on how he was moving on Sunday.

Federico was also a victim of injury on Grandstand Court during the bronze medal matches. Staksrud played bronze in both men’s doubles and mixed doubles. In men’s he went for a flamingo volley and followed that up with another one. He visibly grimaced and kind of pulled up on the second. Immediately following the point, he headed to the bench and called for a medical timeout. 

Being a JOOLA pro, he had the physio from JOOLA examine his right triceps area and tape the area and rub a cream on it. He then finished the match, eventually losing with Andrei Daescu to CJ Klinger and JW Johnson. In mixed, Staksrud had the physio apply the ointment a few more times and was not 100% physically.

I would also be surprised to see Staksrud in the Indoor National Championships draw this week.

Sock looked to injure his hamstring or leg on the very last rally of his gold medal match between him and Chris Haworth. Sock really extended into a near split and was visibly in pain, holding his right hamstring. 

Based on the way Sock limped off Championship Court, I would be surprised to see him playing anytime before the Carvana Mesa Cup a month from now. Hopefully I am wrong and it was just a mild strain.

Of note, Sock was not scheduled to play the Indoor National Championships this week.

Injuries are always part of sports, but to have three of the top guys get injured in one day on the PPA Tour is very unfortunate. I am wishing a speedy recovery to all three men.

Other notable storylines

Liz Truluck earned a bronze medal in singles for the first medal of her career. She beat both Brooke Buckner and Kaitlyn Christian on her way to bronze. Truluck has earned two medals in the PPA Challenger Series and one in the PPA Tour Asia MB Vietnam Open, but this is the first of her career in a full PPA Tour event.

The men's doubles final was on CBS. Despite it being a big weekend for the NFL, CBS chose to air two hours of the PPA Tour finals on their nationwide channel.

Quang Duong, Duc Duong, and Bao Duong were seen with Connor Pardoe at the event. Could Quang Duong be on his way back to the PPA Tour, despite having his contract terminated just over six months ago?

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Full Results

Women’s Singles

🥇 Anna Leigh Waters

🥈 Kate Fahey

🥉 Liz Truluck

Men’s Singles

🥇 Chris Haworth

🥈 Jack Sock

🥉 Roscoe Bellamy

Mixed Doubles

🥇 Anna Leigh Waters/Ben Johns

🥈 Anna Bright/Hayden Patriquin

🥉 Tina Pisnik/Noe Khlif

Women’s Doubles

🥇 Anna Bright/Anna Leigh Waters

🥈 Jade and Jackie Kawamoto

🥉 Jorja Johnson/Hurricane Tyra Black

Men’s Doubles

🥇 Gabe Tardio/Ben Johns

🥈 Christian Alshon/Hayden Patriquin

🥉 CJ Klinger/JW Johnson