The Report
The Favourites Survived. The Draw Didn’t.
Good morning, pickleballers.
Arizona has started removing people. Tyson McGuffin survived one warning against Grayson Goldin, but Rafael Lenhard made sure there would be no second escape. Connor Garnett is out too, while mixed doubles has opened a route that guarantees a quarter-finalist from the No.25 and No.35 seed lines.
Away from the PPA, Manny Pacquiao's new Philippine league has revealed another of its 12 regional franchises, raising a bigger question about how many professional structures Asia can sustain. And in Jamaica, Bermuda's most successful partnership tells a story that began more than a decade before the medals.
Arizona starts to bite
Tyson McGuffin had already been pushed to three games by Grayson Goldin. Against Rafael Lenhard, the warning became an exit. McGuffin won the opener 11-7 before Lenhard responded 11-5, 11-2 to remove one of the biggest names from the men's singles draw.
He was not alone. No.6 seed Connor Garnett lost to Yates Johnson, Victoria DiMuzio came from a game down to remove women's No.9 Liz Truluck, and mixed doubles produced enough disruption to guarantee that either No.25 seeds John Lucian Goins and Meghan Dizon or No.35 Elliott Schupp and Kiora Kunimoto will reach the quarter-finals.
The favourites are still there. The difference is that some reach the Round of 16 having controlled almost everything, while the players coming towards them already know they can survive trouble. Thursday puts those two versions of Arizona on the same courts.
Read the Arizona roundupAnother Asian pro league is arriving
Manny Pacquiao's Maharlika Pilipinas Pickleball Tour is preparing 12 regional franchises for a five-leg inaugural season, beginning in Angeles City, Pampanga, on 3–4 October. The latest team to show its hand is the Parañaque Titans.
Their ten-player roster pulls from several parts of the Philippine racquet-sports system, including former Davis Cup representative Ruben Gonzales Jr, Pickleball Champions League Asia winners Nik Isagan and Fatima Amirul, and players with backgrounds in tennis and padel.
The interesting number, though, may be 12. PPA Tour Asia is already established, MLP Asia is preparing its first season and domestic structures continue to emerge across the continent. The question is no longer whether Asia can create professional opportunities. It is which structures can persuade players, sponsors and audiences to keep coming back.
What Pacquiao is buildingThe coach became the partner
Gavin Manders spent more than a decade coaching Benjamin Jones. The relationship began in tennis, developed through mentorship and has now reached a rather different stage: the two Bermudians are winning international pickleball titles together.
At the Jamaica International Pickleball Open in Kingston, Manders and Jones successfully defended their Men's Open Doubles title as part of an 11-medal haul between them. Jones reached the podium in all six of his events, while Manders added four gold medals and a bronze.
But the medals are evidence rather than the story. Also in Kingston was Manders' eight-year-old son Kai, playing his first international adult tournament. Coach became partner, and another generation has begun watching from much closer than the sidelines.
Read the Bermuda storyThree stories worth making time for
When the Paddle Became the Story. James Ignatowich and RPM are part of an equipment race that is changing what players expect from the object in their hand, and forcing pickleball to confront how quickly paddle technology should be allowed to move.
The Inner Game. John Huff examines the mental space between points, where matches can turn long before anything changes technically and where controlling attention can matter as much as controlling the ball.
The Referee's Room. Tara Creasey takes us inside the decisions players notice, the work they often do not, and what officiating looks like when the game begins moving faster than ever.
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