The Columbus Sliders finished the opening day of MLP San Diego at 2-0, but the first Group B matches revealed more than an early leader. Phoenix found a dependable women’s pairing, Orlando’s injury disruption became competitive reality, and California’s rebuilt roster received an immediate test.
Key takeaways
- Columbus were the only Group B team to finish Day One with two victories, giving the Sliders early control of their route to Sunday.
- Alexa Schull and Daria Walczak extended their winning run in women’s doubles despite Phoenix splitting its two matches.
- San Diego is providing immediate evidence for teams still able to trade before MLP’s revised 20 July deadline.
The MLP trade market can alter a roster in minutes. Making that roster function remains the slower part.
San Diego supplied the first competitive evidence on Thursday as Group B began play at Barnes Tennis Center. The Columbus Sliders emerged as the only 2-0 team, followed by the SoCal Hard Eights at 1-0. Orlando Squeeze and Phoenix Flames split their two matches, while the California Black Bears and Florida Smash ended the day without a victory.
No Group A matches were played, so the table remains preliminary. Yet the opening session established an important distinction between a defending champion retaining much of its established structure and opponents attempting to solve problems while competition is already under way.
Columbus looked ready to collect points. Several rivals still looked like teams searching for the right version of themselves.
Columbus created the useful kind of separation
A 2-0 start does not secure first place in Group B, but it gives Columbus room that every other team must now recover.
That matters under MLP’s event format. The top four teams in each group advance to Sunday’s standings matches, with the group winners playing for 25 points and the runners-up competing for 15. Finishing first rather than second changes the maximum return available from the weekend.
The Sliders have changed since winning the 2025 championship, most recently trading Danni-Elle Townsend to Dallas and receiving Hurricane Tyra Black. Their central structure, however, remains recognisable. Parris Todd, Andrei Daescu and CJ Klinger were part of last season’s title-winning side, while Black and Judit Castillo add different options around them.
That continuity does not guarantee another championship, but it reduces the number of questions Columbus must answer during an event. Their opening-day achievement was simple and valuable: they played twice, won twice and became the first team to place the rest of Group B under pressure.
The Sliders can now approach the remaining round-robin matches with control over their route to Sunday. Orlando, Phoenix and the teams below them must calculate more urgently.
Phoenix found something worth protecting
Phoenix finished 1-1, placing the Flames in the middle of the table rather than among the day’s outright winners. Their women’s doubles pairing told a more encouraging story.
Alexa Schull and Daria Walczak went 2-0 on Thursday, extending their winning run together to five games. In a format comprising four doubles games and, when required, a DreamBreaker, one dependable pairing changes the construction of an entire match.
The Flames recently traded Wyatt Stone to the Carolina Hogs for Michael Loyd and cash considerations, a move intended to alter their available personnel and potentially strengthen their singles options. That may become important later in the event. Schull and Walczak are already supplying something more immediate: a women’s point around which Phoenix can plan.
During an active trade period, teams can become so focused on correcting their weaknesses that they disturb combinations already producing results. Phoenix’s overall performance remains unfinished, but one part of the roster should now be treated as settled.
Orlando’s disruption is no longer theoretical
Orlando also ended Thursday at 1-1, but its position carries different weight.
Lacy Schneemann was ruled out after being injured during a practice incident, forcing the Squeeze to add Alex Walker as a replacement. The consequences extend beyond exchanging one player for another. Mixed-doubles partnerships change, familiar patterns disappear and teammates must adapt without the repetitions normally needed to make those adjustments instinctive.
A split opening day is therefore defensible. It also leaves Orlando with little time to experiment.
The Squeeze cannot treat the entire group stage as an integration exercise. The event’s points system rewards placement sharply, and the contest for third and fourth could tighten quickly. Orlando must identify which partnerships give Walker the clearest role, then ask the established players to absorb the resulting tactical compromises.
California’s overhaul faces a different test
The California Black Bears have played only once, so their 0-1 record is less damaging than Florida’s two defeats. Their problem is not yet numerical. It is structural.
California has been one of the busiest teams in the trade market, moving Kiora Kunimoto, Emma Nelson and Mya Bui while bringing in players including Jalina Ingram, Pablo Tellez and Zoey Weil. Those transactions have changed both the balance of the roster and the combinations available to the coaching staff.
The Black Bears may eventually emerge stronger, but San Diego offers little grace while those relationships develop. A theoretical improvement in talent or roster flexibility has to survive the practical questions of court position, partnership compatibility and pressure.
One defeat does not answer those questions. It brings them forward.
Florida’s problem is already numerical
Florida Smash finished 0-2 and sits sixth in Group B. Its immediate concern is the cost of remaining there.
The fifth-placed team in each group receives one standings point. Sixth receives none. Florida must therefore recover sufficiently to enter the top four or, at minimum, avoid leaving San Diego empty-handed.
That second target may sound modest, but league seasons can turn on points collected during difficult weekends. A team unable to contend for the leading placement must still limit the damage.
Florida has also participated in the recent roster movement, receiving Mya Bui and cash considerations from California for Zoey Weil. The first day offered no evidence that the revised group has yet found its competitive shape.
San Diego is now part of the trade evaluation
MLP moved its second trade deadline from 12 to 20 July while league officials continued working through structural questions affecting future roster construction, including salary mechanisms and the 2027 framework.
Teams consequently arrived in San Diego with the market still open and competitive evidence arriving before their decisions were final.
That makes the event a live evaluation period. It does not make every defeat an instruction to trade again.
Phoenix can assess whether its altered singles options complement a winning women’s unit. Orlando must decide how far its emergency solution can carry it. California needs to distinguish between the expected instability of new partnerships and a deeper roster imbalance. Florida must determine how quickly its changes can produce points.
The useful question is not which team can make another move. It is whether another move would solve the problem visible on court.
What Friday must explain
Group A begins play on Friday, while Group B starts acquiring a more trustworthy shape. Columbus have established the benchmark, but their work is incomplete. SoCal remains unbeaten after one match, and both Orlando and Phoenix retain credible routes towards the top two.
Below them, urgency has arrived early. California needs evidence that its rebuilt roster can settle before the group moves beyond it. Florida needs a result. Phoenix must convert one dependable pairing into a fuller team performance, while Orlando has to replace improvisation with clarity.
Thursday established the records. Friday begins explaining them.
Further Reading
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Chris Beaumont
Founder and Editor-in-ChiefChris Beaumont is the founder and Editor-in-Chief of World Pickleball Magazine. Chris follows the global game closely, reporting on the latest news, developments, stories and tournaments from all five continents. He also hosts the World Pickleball Podcast, interviewing people at…
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