The PPA Tour is being played in back to back weekends for the first time in 2025! Last week, play was in Cape Coral, Florida for the first time. This week, play is being held in McKinney, Texas, a northern suburb of Dallas. This is another first time tour stop.
The Courts of McKinney at Gabe Nesbitt Community Park are hosting the PPA Tour this week. There are four dedicated outdoor courts, eight hybrid (tennis or pickleball) outdoor courts, four dedicated indoor courts, and eight hybrid outdoor courts.
This is an Open level tournament, which means 1,000 PPA Points are on the line for the winners of each event. Additionally, this is a “traditional” draw:
- Wednesday - qualifiers
- Thursday - singles
- Friday - mixed doubles
- Saturday - gender doubles
- Sunday - Championship Sunday
(p.s 3/12/2025 last week we landed a deal with Midwest Racquet Sports because we think they have the best assortment of pickleball shoes on the internet. Use code "THEDINK" to save 10%)
Weather Outlook
The good news? No precipitation is scheduled for McKinney during the event.
The bad news? Yes, you are seeing those wind numbers correctly - Friday, the wind is scheduled for 27mph. Saturday it is scheduled to be 16mph. These winds will wreak havoc on play. Depending on how bad the wind situation is, play might get moved indoors.
How to watch the PPA CIBC Texas Open
Thursday, March 13th - Women’s and Men’s Singles
- Noon - 8pm ET - Championship Court - PickleballTV
Friday, March 14th - Mixed Doubles
- Noon - 8pm ET - Championship Court - PickleballTV
- 11pm - 1am ET - FS2
Saturday, March 15th - Women’s and Men’s Doubles
- Noon - 8pm ET - Championship Court - PickleballTV
- 6pm - 8pm ET - FS2 (Concurrently)
Sunday, March 16th - Championship Sunday
- Noon - 6pm ET - Championship Court - PickleballTV
- 10pm - Midnight ET - Replays - FS1
Let’s get into the action!
Women’s Singles
Top Storylines
- Is this the event that (1) Anna Leigh loses in singles? I don’t think so. No one took a game off her in Cape Coral, and she hasn’t lost yet in 2025.
- p.s get the world #1's paddle for $212.49 with our code "thedink"
- The Round of 16 matchups and beyond are going to be electric. Outside of one or two matchups, they should all be competitive.
- So far this year we have had Kaitlyn Christian, Brooke Buckner, and Lea Jansen compete with ALW for a title - will there be a new player competing on Sunday?
Prediction
- Semi-finalists: STRAIGHT CHALK - (1) Anna Leigh Waters, (3) Brooke Buckner, (2) Kaitlyn Christian, and (4) Kate Fahey
- Finals: Anna Leigh beats Kate Fahey in the finals
Men’s Singles
Top Storylines
- (1) Federico Staksrud skipped Cape Coral last week in singles, and he is ready to go for Texas.
- p.s use the current world #1's paddle for $237.96 with our code "thedink"
- Qualifier John Lucian Goins, who won bronze in Cape Coral, is not playing this tournament, so the top seeds can breathe a sigh of relief.
- (2) Ben Johns is playing in back to back to back singles events after taking the first part of the season off from singles. Does he bounce back from the upset of Goins or go down early again?
Prediction
- Semi-finalists: (1) Federico Staksrud, (4) Hunter Johnson, (2) Ben Johns, and (6) Jaume Martinez Vich
- Finals: Hunter and Ben face off again (last time was PPA Mesa Cup), with Ben winning in three
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Mixed Doubles
Top Storylines
- (2) JW Johnson, after teaming up with Anna Bright last week, is once again paired with his sister Jorja this week.
- (4) Hayden Patriquin and Anna Bright are teaming up again - the St. Louis Shock duo was one of the best mixed doubles teams in MLP last year. Let’s see if they can bring that same energy to the PPA courts.
- (6) Etta Tuionetoa and Fed Staksrud are teaming up for the first time in over a year and a half. The last time they played together was the 2023 Orange County Cup and the PPA Tour still had a consolation bracket 🤣.
Prediction
- Semi-finalists: (1) Anna Leigh Waters/Ben Johns, (4) Anna Bright/Hayden Patriquin, (13) Hurricane Tyra Black/Jaume Martinez Vich, and (3) Catherine Parenteau/Christian Alshon
- Finals: Anna Leigh and Ben beat Catherine and Christian in three
Women’s Doubles
Top Storylines
- Is anyone going to be able to knock off either the 1 seed or 2 seed in 2025? The only time they haven't made the finals was when they didn’t play in Australia.
- (5) Callie Smith is playing with Etta Tuionetoa this week, which I believe is a first time partnership. Since they both like playing the left, it should be interesting.
- I don’t know why, but I really like (7) Jade Kawamoto teaming up with Lacy Schneemann. I think these two can do some damage and will push the (3) Parris Todd and Hurricane Tyra Black.
Prediction
- Semi-finalists: (1) Catherine Parenteau/Anna Leigh Waters, (6) Lucy Kovalova/Lea Jansen, (2) Rachel Rohrabacher/Anna Bright, and (7) Jade Kawamoto/Lacy Schneemann
- Finals: Catherine and Anna Leigh beat The Girlies in four games
Men’s Doubles
Top Storylines
- (3) Andrei Daescu has won three straight men’s doubles golds (two with Christian and one with Ben). He is playing with Dylan Frazier this week. Can he make it four for four?
- There are a ton of new and fun partnership this week in men’s:
- (5) Matt Wright/Dekel Bar
- (6) Collin Johns/James Ignatowich
- (8) Tyson McGuffin/Quang Duong
- (9) Pablo Tellez/Hayden Patriquin
- (11) Max Freeman/Riley Newman
- Love to see (31) Altaf Merchant and Steve Deakin playing together. They dominate the senior tour and can definitely still get some wins on the PPA Tour.
- (14) New Miami Pickleball Club teammates Jay Devilliers and Noe Khlif are teaming up for the first time.
Prediction
- Semi-finalists: (7) CJ Klinger/JW Johnson, (10) Tyler Loong/Connor Garnett, (2) Gabe Tardio/Ben Johnson, and (9) Augie Ge/Jaume Martinez Vich
- Finals: CJ and JW beat Ben and Gabe in an epic five game match
