Once a Tennis Prodigy, Pickleball Newcomer Chris Haworth Now Singularly Focused
In the last two weeks, Chris Haworth has defeated Ben Johns and Federico Staksrud for a PPA Gold in the Orange County Cup and drove 30 minutes north the following week and won the APP Newport Beach Open.
That’s a sweet two weeks for the former high school tennis star and All-American Player of the Year.
Haworth came onto the pickleball scene about a year ago and is now crushing the competition in 2024.
Let's get to know pro pickleball's hottest singles player, who also joined co-hosts Thomas Shields and Zane Navratil on the latest episode of the PicklePod (click here to subscribe).
Growing Up in Oklahoma City
Chris is extremely close with his family and was raised in Oklahoma City with his older sister, Courtney. His parents, Claudia and Rick, were supportive of both Courtney and Chris and their athletic endeavors.
Being eight years younger than Courtney, Chris was always playing sports with her friends as a kid. Courtney was a high-level softball player and Chris started getting into baseball as a youngster.
At the U9 level, a young Chris and his teammates ended up winning a national championship in baseball. Imagine being a nine-year old and winning a national championship in anything?
Here’s the kicker – Chris had started playing tennis shortly before the championship run and was much happier playing tennis, so two weeks after winning that national championship, Chris chose instead to focus on tennis full time.
It appears he made the right decision.
One of the most decorated athletes in high school tennis
Chris got good at tennis – quickly.
He trained non-stop, as most normal high-level tennis recruits do. Rick, his father, learned everything there was to know about tennis and became his coach. They worked out relentlessly, and with Rick watching coaching film and reading tennis books, Chris was able to quickly excel.
Oklahoma is not very well known for producing tennis prodigies. However, Chris started playing local and regional tournaments and won just about everything.
By the time he reached high school, Chris realized he needed to play national tournaments to ensure he faced the competition necessary to get better. He was ranked as the 54th-best boys tennis recruit in the country as a freshman.
Haworth continuously moved up the national rankings while playing well at national junior tournaments and winning state championships for his high school.
Here are some of Haworth’s accomplishments during his first three years at Putnam North City High School:
- Led his high school to three-straight state championships at the 6A level
- Had a record in high school tennis of 100-5 - yes, that’s FIVE losses
- 3x All-City boys tennis player
- All-State Player of the Year (Oklahoma)
- All-American
- All-American Boys Tennis Player of the Year
Not surprisingly, Chris was recently named to the Putnam City Schools Athletics Hall of Fame.
In addition to high school tennis, Chris took the juniors tour by storm.
Here are his national tennis rankings by year while in high school:
- 2008 - 54
- 2009 - 40
- 2010 - 26
- 2011 - 7
He finished in the top 10 of all tennis recruits throughout the country during his senior year. However, Chris skipped his senior year of high school tennis to spend eight months at the John Newcombe Tennis Academy. Hunter and Yates Johnson also attended this academy, located in New Braunfels, Texas.
Haworth was considered a "blue chip" recruit, which means he was one of the Top 25 tennis recruits in the country. Haworth went 28-4 versus three-, four-, and five-star recruits in junior tennis. More impressively, Haworth went 15-6 against other "blue chip" recruits while on the junior circuit.
During his junior and senior year of high school, Chris was offered D-I scholarships from Michigan, Indiana, Arkansas, Oklahoma, and Oklahoma State. He eventually chose Oklahoma State for a variety of reasons, mainly because the team was good and he'd be close to home.
College at Oklahoma State University
Chris was a standout his freshman year in Stillwater, but once a new coach was brought in, he lost his love for tennis.
While he was successful in college, Chris was not super positive about his overall experience:
His record at Oklahoma State:
- Singles - 37-31
- Doubles - 21-21
At the D-1 level, that is an extremely admirable record. By the second half of his junior year, however, Chris was burned out and quit tennis (semi) permanently.
Chris remained at OSU and graduated with his degree in marketing. It's fairly common for tennis players to get burned out, and Chris was no exception.
Haworth graduated in 2015 and picked up a full-time corporate job. Having been a high-level athlete for so long, Chris started getting antsy and was unhappy with the sedentary job. After a year or so grinding 9-5, he picked up a racket and fell in love with tennis all over again.
Chris chose to play on the ITF Tour in pro tennis as a 25-year old in 2017. He made it to No. 1,334 in singles and No. 1,090 in doubles. After talking it over with his father, Chris decided all the travel was not worth it. He gave up his renewed dream of playing pro tennis in 2018, instead opting to become a tennis coach in the Oklahoma City area.
Haworth's pro pickleball career
For four years, Chris coached tennis as his main source of income.
Then Thanksgiving of 2022 happened.
Chris and the other pros decided to give the students at the academy a week off from their training for the Thanksgiving holiday.
A member of the club invited him to play pickleball while his pupils were out and he accepted, despite not knowing what pickleball was at the time. Just like millions of pickleballers, Chris was hooked. He found pickleball to be fun, social, and he was really good at it.
Haworth won four titles on the APP Tour in 2023 – three silvers, and one bronze – in men’s singles.
So within a year of picking up a pickleball paddle, Haworth earned four medals in men’s singles on the APP Tour.
Haworth is an interesting case, as he is one of the few top pros not signed to either the APP Tour or the PPA/MLP Tours exclusively. He is arguably the best singles player in the game right now and is working diligently on his doubles game. He has recently been training for mixed doubles at The Greens Country Club in Oklahoma City with another high level pro, Jenna Hessert.
In men’s doubles, Haworth plans on playing with Grayson Goldin for the foreseeable future. Grayson had been playing with Stephen Madonia, who suffered an injury. These two will likely be competing for medals on the APP Tour in the second half of 2024.
Chris’ singles record this year:
PPA Tour
APP Tour
- Four gold medals - Punta Gorda, Delray Beach, New York City Open, Newport Beach
- Bronze at the APP Sacramento Open
He also earned a silver medal at the US Open Championships earlier this year.
Some people Chris has beaten in 2024:
Federico Staksrud, Ben Johns, Yates Johnson (twice), Hunter Johnson, Dylan Frazier, Grayson Goldin (twice), Will Howells, JW Johnson.
What do they all have in common? All eight of those players are in our most recent Top 20 Men’s Singles Power Rankings.
Erik Tice
The need to get in great physical shape
Haworth puts a lot of effort into his fitness routine. When he first started playing singles professionally, he thought for sure it wouldn’t be tiring – it’s only a quarter of the tennis court after all. He quickly learned that it's not quite that easy.
When Chris went full-time pro pickleball in August of 2023, he made the conscious decision to focus on his fitness. Most high-level athletes are extremely in tune with their bodies and know how to work out effectively and what areas to train. Most get trainers to help them stay motivated, not to tell them how to work out.
Chris doesn’t need that. Sure, he takes a day off here and there, but for the most part Chris is in the gym at least five days a week. A lot of his time is spent working on his cardio as well as his speed and agility.
The work has really paid off. In my estimation (having watched hundreds of professional pickleball matches in 2024), there are three really fast and agile big men in pro pickleball right now: Grayson Goldin, Chris Haworth, and some guy named Jack Sock.
Yes, Jaume Martinez Vich, Connor Garnett, and Gabe Joseph are extremely good on their feet, but they are all on the shorter side. At 6’4”, Haworth can cover the court as well as anyone out there.
The Babolat sponsorship
Chris Haworth is the first and only Babolat-sponsored player in pickleball.
Jason Flamm
This may be confusing, because people like Ben Johns, Collin Johns, Federico Staksrud, and many others can typically be seen wearing Babolat shoes. However, they don’t get paid to do so and don't "endorse" the brand, per se. Only Haworth is paid to wear the shoes and wear other Babolat-logo gear while playing with a Babolat STRKR+ paddle.
Chris weighs his paddle a heavy 9.3 ounces and plays both singles and doubles with that paddle.
Chris credits his agent, Sam Flaxman, for helping with the Babolat deal. Chris signed with Flaxman in late 2023, shortly after Chris turned pro full time. His paddle deal ended with his previous company earlier this year, and he was looking to change things up. It just so happened that Babolat was looking to sign a pickleball player, and the timing was perfect.
Nowadays, Chris is head-to-toe in Babolat gear, for what they call the "full look." He wears their clothes, socks, hat, shoes, plays with their paddle and enjoys the gear the professionalism of the Babolat look.
On his way to No. 1
Mindset is a big thing for Haworth. He believes in himself and wants to be the best singles player in the world. On any given day he knows if he brings his best stuff, he can beat anyone.
After his recent win over Ben Johns, a fan asked Chris if he was surprised he won. "No. I went into the match thinking I could win," Haworth said. "I respect Ben Johns’ game a ton, but I knew I could beat him."
Surely a winner’s mindset that will continue to help Haworth skyrocket up the ranks in the world of professional pickleball.
