Welcome to another edition of The Dink's Top 20 Mixed Doubles Power Rankings.
These are my own opinions using the data collected over the last year. I am primarily just using data from 2024 and really focusing on performance over the last three months of matches.
Here are some of the data points I consider:
- PPA medals and wins
- Average finish at PPA events
- APP medals
- Overall average finish in 2024
- Results from MLP Atlanta
- Five most recent events played
Fun Fact: There have been 16 pro events this year between the APP, PPA and US Open (10 PPA and 5 APP), which results in a total of 96 medals for all of these events. The 20 players in my power rankings have won 77 of those 96 medals, meaning these top 20 players have won just over 80 percent of all the medals in 2024 thus far.
Players who just missed the cut
- Hurricane Tyra Black - Only one medal this year with the APP Miami win and no medals on the PPA Tour.
- Dylan Frazier - Same as Hurricane Tyra Black.
- Tyson McGuffin - Who would have thought going into June that McGuffin still wouldn’t have a medal in mixed doubles? He is playing with Parris Todd, his Squeeze teammate in PPA Sacramento.
- Meghan Dizon - Same as Tyson. After their recent "breakup" it will be interesting to see who Meg starts playing with.
- Catherine Parenteau - With the month off, no medals, and an average finish of 10.57 on the PPA Tour, Parenteau would be in my top 15, but didn’t make my top 10 women this go around.
- Jessie Irvine - Super consistent and her average finish of 9th place ranks her as the fourth-best finisher on the women’s side. I put a premium on medals though, so Irvine just misses the cut.
Top 10 Women Mixed Doubles Players
10. Parris Todd - Parris has one medal this year in mixed doubles, coming at the US Open Championships with Hunter Johnson. Parris has never finished outside of the Round of 16 and she has two quarterfinal finishes as well. Parris' average finish on the PPA Tour this year is 11th. She is very consistent and has that one medal, barely keeping her on this list.
9. Lea Jansen - Lea has a bronze medal with Hayden Patriquin from the PPA Indoor Championships. Lea has three other finishes in the quarterfinals on tour. Lea is playing very well right now in mixed. If she can earn a couple more medals in the next month or so, Lea will rise up the rankings.
Erik Tice
8. Rachel Rohrabacher - Rohrabacher is playing great with Federico Staksrud this year. The partnership seems to keep getting better as the year goes on. Rachel earned a silver medal at the PPA Indoor Championships. Rohrabacher played very well in MLP two weeks ago as well for DC.
7. Etta Wright - Etta got two wins in the last month with Ben Johns while Anna Leigh was taking a break. Etta is a really good mixed doubles player, but doesn't really get the best partners on the PPA Tour, outside of Ben. The gold medals really propelled her up this list - hopefully Etta can find some more results with Christian Alshon and Riley Newman in the next two tournaments.
6. Megan Fudge - Fudge is the only APP exclusive player in our latest rankings. Obviously the APP level is not the same as the PPA, but Fudge has three medals on the APP Tour - two with Andrei Daescu and one with Rob Nunnery. Fudge and Daescu also won the US Open. It would be fun to see Fudge play against the best of the best more often, but she isn't playing MLP and is an APP exclusive player.
5. Tina Pisnik - Pisnik is the definition of consistency. Tina and Dekel Bar finished second in the North Carolina Cup and the Houston Open. They followed that up with a bronze medal at the PPA LA Open. Pisnik hasn't had great results in the last two tournaments on the PPA Tour, losing in the Round of 32 and then the Round of 16.
4. Jorja Johnson - The 17-year old has six medals on tour this year – two on the PPA Tour (Bronze at Desert Ridge and Atlanta) and four on the APP Tour. She won gold at APP Punta Gorda, Sacramento, and Delray Beach. Now that she is an exclusively signed PPA/MLP player, we will see if Jorja can continue to hang with the best of the best in the world (hint, she clearly can).
3. Vivienne David - David is the only player tied with Anna Leigh Waters with seven medals on the PPA Tour this year. Her and Thomas Wilson are playing at such a high level this year, it was a shock they didn’t medal in Atlanta. The duo has won the PPA Indoor Championships and the LA Open. David’s worst finish in 2024 came this last weekend when they came in 7th place, losing to Rachel Rohrabacher and Federico Staksrud in the third game, 10-12. I expect Viv and Thomas to continue to find the podium in 2024.
2. Anna Bright - Bright and Viv David are extremely close, with Bright earning six medals in 2024 – one less than David and one less win. I am giving Bright the very slight edge here because she beat Ben Johns and Anna Leigh Waters at the Austin Open with Andrei Daescu and has finished second in the last three PPA Tournaments with James Ignatowich. Bright is easily a top-three woman in both mixed doubles and gender doubles.
1. Anna Leigh Waters - Anna Leigh's worst finish is second in mixed doubles in seven tournaments in 2024. Ben and Anna Leigh are clearly the top mixed doubles team in the world. Anna Leigh is able to poach from the right better than any other player, male or female. The 17-year old is easily the best female pickleball player in the world.
Top Ten Men Mixed Doubles Players
10. Hayden Patriquin - Hayden only has a bronze medal as his only mixed doubles medal this year. Hayden and Lea won that medal at the PPA Indoor Championships. Since that tournament, Hayden and Lea have been playing a lot together and have three quarterfinal finishes. Hayden's average finishing position is 10.33 on tour this year.
9. Federico Staksrud - Fed has a silver medal from the PPA Indoor Championships earlier this year. In four of the last five tournaments, Fed has made it to the quarterfinals or better. This past week in Atlanta, they actually lost in the semis and lost the bronze medal match for a fourth-place finish. Rachel and Fed seem to be a great partnership that continues to get better as time goes on.
Erik Tice
8. Christian Alshon - Alshon only has one medal on tour this year, a bronze in Houston with Jackie Kawamoto. Christian has never finished outside the Round of 16, no matter who his partner is. He has three quarterfinal finishes in 2024 as well. Alshon played the last two tournaments with Vivian Glozman, finishing 13th and 12th overall. If those two continue playing together I can foresee them getting to the podium sooner rather than later.
7. Dekel Bar - Bar has two silver medals on the PPA Tour with Tina Pisnik at the North Carolina Cup and the Houston Open. The big man also did well for the DC Pickleball Team in the MLP opener, going 3-2 in mixed doubles. He will look to bounce back from a loss in the Round of 32 and Round 16 in the upcoming PPA Texas Open.
6. Gabe Tardio - Tardio has three medals on the APP Tour this year, winning Delray Beach. He has two quarterfinal finishes on the PPA Tour this year as well. The young Bolivian has played some with Milan Rane and most recently played with Jessie Irvine in Atlanta with so-so results. If Tardio can find more regular partners, I could see him moving up the rankings.
5. Andrei Daescu - Daescu has five medals in 2024 and they are all either silver or gold. He got silver at the US Open and has three medals on the APP Tour. His only PPA medal was a gold with Anna Bright at Austin while James was injured. Daescu is a pro anomaly, being one of the only players who plays both APP, PPA, and MLP events. The Romanian has a ton of reach and can really take over matches when needed.
4. JW Johnson - JW has five mixed doubles medals in 2024. JW won the US Open with Anna Leigh in a fun pairing. Before signing an exclusive contract with UPA, JW won the Sacramento Open and got bronze at the APP Delray Beach. He also got bronze at PPA Mesa and this past weekend at PPA Atlanta. JW has the fastest hands in the game.
3. James Ignatowich - Ignatowich is clearly one of the best mixed doubles players in the world. The main reason he is third is because he had a month or so where his shoulder was injured and he didn't play. Ignatowich played very well in MLP Atlanta a couple of weeks ago. He has stated he wants to be the No. 1 singles player in the world, which seems like a possibility by the end of the year if he stays healthy.
2. Thomas Wilson - With seven titles on the PPA Tour, Wilson has the second most titles on tour this year with Viv David. Their chemistry combined with his takeover ability makes the duo something special. He will look to bounce back after not medaling for just the second time in 2024 in his home state of Texas next week in the PPA Texas Open.
1. Ben Johns - Ben has played nine tournaments this year, winning all but two. He has won seven titles in 2024 with Anna Leigh and two with Etta Wright. Ben is clearly the best player in the world and the field doesn't seem to be getting closer, especially when it comes to mixed doubles.
