Federico Staksrud, the #1-ranked singles and men's doubles player on the PPA Tour, made waves last month as the new face of adidas pickleball.

A few short weeks later, he was spotted swinging his trusty Joola again in a round of 64 singles win against Ty Parrish at the Carvana Mesa Cup.

So, what gives?

Trials in Tucson

Anticipation was high for the Proton Tucson Open, Staksrud's debut event with his new adidas paddle; surprisingly, he saw his earliest exit in over a year, losing in singles in the round of 32 and mixed doubles in the round of 16. He withdrew from men's doubles.

"I think it's safe to say that I didn't feel comfortable with what happened last time," Staksrud told me, referencing his results in Tucson. "So we made a decision of making sure that whatever I'm going to use in the future, I'm feeling super comfortable. We're just just waiting. We're just in that process right now."

'Transition Process'

Staksrud said he's working with adidas to create a new paddle as quickly as possible, but confirmed he's back to using a Joola, at least for now – a "transition process" his partners at adidas pickleball are well aware of.

"They're giving me the freedom to keep playing with what I'm comfortable with until we make things right," he said.

Staksrud said he's "super involved" in the process to create a new paddle, providing feedback along the way.

It's unclear just how long this will take. "Hopefully, as fast as possible," he said, stressing that nothing has changed about his partnership with adidas.

"It's important to say this is just a transition process," Staksrud added, "and soon enough, I'm going to be swinging an adidas paddle."