The Dink's Top 20 Men's Singles Pickleball Power Rankings

Quite a few newcomers to our top 20 since we published our initial Men's Singles Power Rankings for 2024.

These power rankings are a subjective view of the field. I am taking into account a variety of factors:

Recent finishes
PPA points and seedings
APP points
Head-to-head competition

This is NOT a scientific algorithm or an AI bot making picks. Just a guy who watches a LOT of pickleball. APP players are now included in the rankings because we have been able to see them in four events this year.

20. Julian Arnold (Pv. 14) – Julian can be a really great singles player, but hasn't had the results he would like this year. Arnold has lost twice in the Round of 32, three times in the Round of 16, and he's only made the quarterfinals once. In his quarterfinal run in Minnesota, Arnold beat Tyler Loong and Gabe Joseph. This shows he is capable of big wins, but thus far in 2024 he hasn't had them.

19. Collin Shick (15) – Shick is a scary singles player who nobody wants to see in their bracket. He is super athletic and can play both the cat-and-mouse game and the ground stroke game. Shick has only made the quarterfinals once this year on the PPA Tour. He definitely has not had the results he would like, but Collin is certainly capable of beating anyone on any given day.

18. Grayson Goldin (N/R) – Goldin is a Florida native who played D-1 tennis at the University of South Florida. He finished his college career in 2018, but still has elite-level athleticism. Goldin covers the court extremely well and plays with a lot of energy. In four APP events this year, Goldin has finished 9th, 5th, 2nd, and 10th in singles. One medal on the APP Tour and never finishing outside the top 10 has Grayson joining our Top 20 for the first time.

17. Jack Foster (N/R) – Foster's been playing pickleball since he was in high school and plays exclusively on the APP Tour. He is part of the APP Next Gen National Team and is one of the best young players out there. It is difficult to compare the APP players to PPA players, but finishes of 4th, 3rd, 2nd, and 8th is great on any tour.

16. Gabe Joseph (16) – Joseph is very consistent. He has a really good two-handed backhand and a great forehand ground stroke. In the six PPA Tour events thus far in 2024, Joseph has always made it to the Round of 16, with an average finish of 12.67. If Gabe can make a semifinal run or two in the next month, he could very well move up considerably in the rankings.

15. Pablo Tellez (11) – Pablo is definitely the best lefty player in men's singles. Similarly to Gabe Joseph, Pablo has never missed the Round of 16 on the PPA Tour in 2024. Tellez' best run this year was in Minnesota, where he finished 4th, beating Anton Gudz and Julian Arnold.

14. Quang Duong (12) – Duong's average finish is 10th overall in 2024. His best finish was 4th at the PPA Masters, the first event of the year. He beat Ben Johns in that tournament. Duong followed that up with three round-of-16 losses, before making it to the quarterfinals in North Carolina. Duong has beat Pablo Tellez twice in 2024. The youngster needs some more quarterfinal and semifinal finishes to move up the list.

13. Jay Devilliers (10) – Devilliers has three top-10 finishes this year. He got a bronze medal at PPA Desert Ridge and made it to the quarterfinals at the PPA Masters and also this past weekend in North Carolina. The veteran doesn't seem to be slowing down at all and has been playing some of his best singles of his career.

12. Hunter Johnson (N/R) – Johnson and his brother both recently signed exclusive deals with UPA (MLP/PPA). Hunter has the better results in singles. Johnson got a silver medal in APP Punta Gorda and followed that up with a gold medal at the APP Miami Open. He was the best singles player on the APP Tour in 2023. It will be exciting seeing how consistently he finishes on the PPA Tour.

11. Will Howells (N/R) – Howells has played four tournaments in singles in 2024. He won the APP Sacramento, with wins over Chris Haworth and Jack Foster, both of whom are in our Top 20 list. Will also earned another medal at APP Delray, finishing third just last weekend, with another win over Jack Foster. He has elite level athleticism and great ground strokes.

10. Tyson McGuffin (3) – McGuffin is surely better than 10th overall, but a foot injury has kept him sidelined for a month in singles. He didn't finish well in North Carolina, losing to a severely underseeded Yates Johnson. McGuffin doesn't have a medal this year in singles. With a few good results this month, I expect Tyson to move back into the top five in this list.

9. JW Johnson (9) – JW's last singles win was in November at the BioFreeze Nationals. Since then, he has made the quarterfinals twice and earned a silver medal at the APP Delray Beach. JW doesn't play singles as much as many of the others on this list, but does have some results. In Austin, JW beat Quang Duong before losing to Ben Johns. He has been the victim of some tough draws, but then again, every singles draw this year seems to be a tough draw.

8. Jaume Martinez Vich (5) – The entertainer has more potential than his results have proven. He made a huge run at PPA Desert Ridge, winning a silver medal. On his way to the silver, Jaume beat Gabe Joseph, Ben Johns, and Jay Devilliers, only losing to Federico Staksrud. Martinez Vich followed Desert Ridge with a 6th-place finish at Mesa. While Vich is not the tallest player in the world, he is lightning quick and can play singles any way he needs to win.

7. Jack Sock (6) – Sock is the most entertaining pickleball player on the court. He laughs, jokes, and generally has a great time playing. He got a bronze medal at the PPA Masters and has two 4th-place finishes on tour this year. While JMV, Howells, and Garnett are ridiculously quick, Sock is also just as quick. The difference is that Sock is 6'3" and probably has at least 30 pounds on all of those other players. Sock is going to get a win on tour in 2024.

6. Dylan Frazier (8) – Frazier has followed up his PPA Masters win with two quarterfinals. Frazier has wins over Julian Arnold, JW Johnson, Tyson McGuffin, Quang Duong, and Federico Staksrud all this season. Frazier is super fast and while he doesn't have a tennis background, he has a more than serviceable two-handed backhand. Frazier likes to play cat-and-mouse, but also has a huge forehand ground stroke.

5. Chris Haworth (13) – Haworth has played some PPA events and all APP events. On the PPA Tour, he made the quarterfinals, beating Connor Garnett at the PPA Desert Ridge. Chris is easily the best APP singles player thus far in 2024. He won both APP Punta Gorda and APP Delray Beach and got a bronze medal at APP Sacramento, losing to Will Howells. Haworth is hard to gauge against the PPA players, but if he keeps winning on the APP Tour, he will stay high on this list.

4. Connor Garnett (7) – Garnett didn't have a great start to the year, with a 19th- and 13th-place finish at The Masters and PPA Desert Ridge. Since then, he has a silver medal and two bronze medals with wins over Christian Alshon (twice), and Jack Sock. Garnett is very much an elite men's singles player and has all the tools to be a top-three player if he can find some more wins.

3. Christian Alshon (4) – Yes, Alshon has lost twice to Connor Garnett, but Christian has more consistent results. Alshon has two bronze medals this year at the Indoor Championships and PPA Austin. Christian has never missed the quarterfinals in six events this year. He is always a threat to get to the podium and no one would be surprised if he won his first singles title sometime this year.

2. Federico Staksrud (2) – Six for six. The men's singles fields are stacked this year and upsets are happening left and right - except for Fed. Federico is the only player this year to make it to Championship Sunday in every single event. He already has two wins on tour in 2024 and will undoubtedly add to that total. If he can get a win or two over Ben, Fed could leapfrog him in our standings.

1. Ben Johns (1) – Ben has the most wins on the PPA Tour this year with three. He had a tough start to the year, not making the semifinals in his first two events. Pundits started speculating about Ben falling off and not being the best anymore. Then he won three straight tournaments, beating Fed in all three in the finals. Ben is the best and will be for the foreseeable future.