The Report
Three questions before Dallas
Good morning, pickleballers.
The PPA World Championships start in Dallas a week today, and Hong Kong has left us with three questions. Is the form player in women's singles also the favourite? Is the best team of the season still the team to beat? And are the two champions playing the Nations Cup this weekend making a mistake?
We've answered all three, with the numbers and a verdict. Then there's a podcast for the commute.
The Lead · Women's singles
Andie Dikosavljevic is the form player. Anna Leigh Waters is still the favourite
Dikosavljevic won the women's singles at both of the PPA's new 1500-level events, the Australian Pickleball Cup in Brisbane and the Hong Kong Slam, and lost one game in ten completed matches: 20 games won, one lost. In Sunday's final she beat Judit Castillo 11-1, 11-5. Seeded eighth in Hong Kong, she won all 12 games she played and conceded 40 points.
The best sign came against Sahra Dennehy. In Brisbane, Dennehy took her to 12-10 in a third game. Six days later in Hong Kong she won four points in two games.
Why it matters: Waters played neither singles draw and has won her last 55 singles finals. Dikosavljevic goes to Dallas as a genuine contender. She does not go as the favourite.
Men's doubles
Staksrud and Patriquin are the team to beat. Johns and Tardio can be beaten
Federico Staksrud and Hayden Patriquin beat the top seeds, Ben Johns and Gabe Tardio, 11-6, 11-8 in the Hong Kong final. They won all ten games they played that week and conceded 47 points, under five a game. They are the defending world champions and have been back together for only two months.
Johns and Tardio went nine from nine in events they entered together in the first half of the season. They have now lost two finals in three weeks.
Why it matters: going into Dallas, we make Staksrud and Patriquin narrow favourites.
Opinion · MLP Nations Cup
Bright and Johns are the only Worlds champions playing the Nations Cup. Who has called it right?
Five players hold the five Worlds titles. Two of them, Anna Bright and Ben Johns, are on a Nations Cup roster, both for USA. Waters, Staksrud and Patriquin are on none of the eight teams.
The Nations Cup final is on Sunday 1 November. The Worlds round of 64 is on Tuesday 3 November, followed by six consecutive days of play. Both Bright and Johns were also seeded in Hong Kong.
Why it matters: for the two champions playing in it, the Nations Cup is a warm-up that comes with a bill, and Worlds is where it falls due. Coverage of the Nations Cup final is from 20:00 UK on Sunday on PickleballTV.
World Pickleball Studio
Give every match the coverage it deserves
World Pickleball Studio provides professional commentary, graphics and live presentation for pickleball tournaments.
World Pickleball Podcast
Three months of pickleball, and bamboo v carbon
We look back at the World Cup, the English Open, PPA Australia and Europe, and the Rome Open. And Ben Tinkler-Davies talks about Kinova and the Swift paddle, and whether a paddle should be bamboo or carbon.
Watch: Bamboo vs Carbon with Ben Tinkler-Davies
Watch: Three Months of Pickleball
That's the Report
A form player who is not the favourite, a favourite that is not the best team of the season, and two champions who may be playing one weekend too many. The Nations Cup starts on Friday, and Worlds a week today.