What’s the Score?
As the 2026 pickleball season commences, analysts are predicting a year of turbulence and transition. Following a 2025 season defined by contract terminations and MLP upsets, The Dink has released 26 predictions for the new year that suggest the status quo is about to be upended. Major forecasts include Anna Leigh Waters finally losing a singles match, Australian tennis star Nick Kyrgios joining the PPA Tour, and Ben Johns failing to secure a single gold medal in singles competition.
Hit it deeper!
The predictions for 2026 paint a picture of a sport rapidly evolving beyond its current icons. The most startling forecast concerns Anna Leigh Waters, who has been statistically untouchable, having not lost a singles match in over 585 days. Despite predicting she will surpass the historic 200-gold-medal milestone this year, analysts believe her invincibility will crack, citing rising challengers like Kate Fahey, Seone Mendez, and Parris Todd as capable of handing the 19-year-old a rare defeat.
On the men’s side, the predictions signal a changing of the guard regarding playing styles. Ben Johns, long considered the “GOAT” (Greatest of All Time), is predicted to go medal-less in singles for the entire year. The reasoning is technological and tactical: Johns is the master of the “cat and mouse” game, a strategy that is becoming obsolete as paddle technology advances and the game becomes faster and more aggressive.
Furthermore, the crossover between tennis and pickleball is expected to deepen. Nick Kyrgios, the mercurial tennis star, is tipped to play at least one PPA event, a move hinted at by his friend Jack Sock and his recent role as Creative Director for Stack Athletics. Speaking of Jack Sock, 2026 is predicted to be his breakout year in singles, with forecasts suggesting he will finally secure his first PPA singles title, capitalising on the “luck” required in a high-variance format. The predictions also touch on the business side, foreseeing multiple lawsuits regarding paddle patents and a “domino effect” in sponsorships triggered by Waters’ free agency.
The World Pickleball Verdict
If even half of these predictions come true, 2026 will be the year pickleball fully sheds its “backyard game” roots and enters a ruthless professional era. The potential decline of Ben Johns’ “cat and mouse” style symbolises the sport’s maturation; just as tennis moved from wooden rackets to graphite, pickleball is speeding up, leaving traditionalists to adapt or perish.
The involvement of figures like Kyrgios and the intense scrutiny on equipment patents indicates that the stakes—financial and reputational—are higher than ever. We are no longer watching a polite community hobby; we are watching a cutthroat professional industry.
