Wind-Swept Victory: ALW Claims Triple Crown at PPA Texas Open Despite Challenging Conditions
The Veolia PPA Texas Open presented unique challenges this year as gusting winds exceeding 40mph battered the courts throughout the entire tournament weekend. Despite Mother Nature’s best efforts to disrupt play, the world’s elite pickleball players battled through the conditions to deliver compelling performances. Most notably, Anna Leigh Waters continued her remarkable dominance by securing her third triple crown of 2026 and the 42nd of her storied career. The tournament showcased not only the technical skills of professional pickleball but also the mental fortitude required to adapt to unpredictable outdoor conditions that tested even the most seasoned competitors.
Anna Leigh Waters Extends Her Historic Winning Streak
Anna Leigh Waters arrived in Texas riding the momentum of a triple crown victory at the Newport Beach Open just two days prior, and she showed absolutely no signs of fatigue or complacency. Her performance throughout the Texas tournament was nothing short of spectacular, compiling a perfect 16-0 match record across all three disciplines while dropping only a single game in the entire competition. That lone game loss came in the mixed doubles finals against Hayden Patriquin and Anna Bright, which speaks volumes about the level of competition required to even take a game off Waters in her current form.
The statistics surrounding Waters’ dominance have become increasingly difficult to comprehend. She went 35-1 in games played throughout the tournament, winning every singles game she contested and sweeping through women’s doubles alongside her partner Anna Bright without dropping a single game. This level of consistency, especially in conditions where wind gusts were wreaking havoc on ball trajectory and making soft game strategies nearly impossible to execute, demonstrates not just superior technical ability but exceptional adaptability.
The last time Waters tasted defeat in mixed doubles was less than a month ago in Mesa, where she fell to the pairing of Hayden Patriquin and Anna Bright. However, her singles record remains virtually untouchable—she hasn’t lost a singles match in over 650 days, a streak that spans nearly two full years of competition. In women’s doubles, Waters and Bright haven’t suffered a loss in over six months, establishing them as the most dominant tandem in the women’s game by a considerable margin.
What makes Waters’ achievements even more remarkable is the frequency with which she’s achieving these triple crowns. This marks her second consecutive triple crown in as many weeks, and her third already in 2026 despite the season being relatively young. The combination of physical stamina required to compete at the highest level across multiple disciplines, the mental focus needed to maintain this level of play, and the strategic versatility to dominate in singles, women’s doubles, and mixed doubles simultaneously sets Waters apart in the history of professional pickleball.
Federico Staksrud Claims His Second Men’s Singles Title
The men’s singles draw in Texas followed a familiar pattern that has emerged throughout the 2026 season: early rounds filled with surprising upsets and tight matches, followed by the elite players asserting their dominance in the later stages. Federico Staksrud navigated this treacherous path to claim his second gold medal of 2026, displaying the consistency and mental toughness that has characterized his rise to the top of the men’s game.
Staksrud’s path to gold required victories over a murderer’s row of talented opponents including Oliver Frank, Donald Young, Armaan Bhatia, Jay Devilliers, John Lucian Goins, and Chris Haworth in the finals. Despite facing these accomplished players, Staksrud dropped only two games during his entire championship run—one to Oliver Frank in the opening round and another to Chris Haworth in the finals. This level of dominance in a field this competitive speaks to Staksrud’s current form and his ability to elevate his game when the stakes are highest.
The men’s singles landscape in 2026 has crystallized around three players who have separated themselves from the rest of the field. Staksrud sits alongside Hunter Johnson and Chris Haworth in what has become an exclusive club at the pinnacle of professional men’s singles pickleball. These three players currently occupy the top three positions in the PPA Tour player rankings, and their dominance is reflected in their medal counts through the early portion of the 2026 season.
Through the tournaments completed thus far in 2026, the medal distribution among these three demonstrates just how closely matched they are: Chris Haworth has accumulated four medals including two golds and two silvers; Federico Staksrud has earned two golds and one silver; and Hunter Johnson also has two golds and one silver. The consistency of these three reaching the medal rounds has become expected, while the question of who will claim gold on any given weekend remains genuinely unpredictable. As the 2026 season progresses, the battle among these three for the year-end number one ranking promises to be one of the most compelling storylines in professional pickleball.
Johns and Tardio Maintain Perfect Record in Men’s Doubles
The men’s doubles partnership of Ben Johns and Gabe Tardio continued their stranglehold on the discipline with yet another gold medal performance in Texas. This victory marks their fifth consecutive tournament win in 2026 when playing together, extending what has become the most dominant run in men’s doubles in recent memory. Tardio actually leads all players in men’s doubles titles for 2026, as he also captured the indoor tournament championship partnered with Andrei Daescu, meaning he remains undefeated on the year across all men’s doubles competitions.
However, the path to gold in Texas proved more challenging than recent tournaments for the top-seeded duo. Since their finals loss at Worlds to Hayden Patriquin and Federico Staksrud back in November, Johns and Tardio had been nearly invincible, posting a 55-2 record in games played without dropping a single match. Texas tested that dominance more than any tournament since, as they lost three games during their championship run—one to Luc Pham and Will Mackinnon, a surprising 11-0 blanking by Tyler Loong and John Lucian Goins, and one game to Max Freeman and Tyson McGuffin.
The finals matchup against Andrei Daescu and Federico Staksrud provided an opportunity for Johns and Tardio to reassert their dominance, and they did so emphatically. After dropping the first game 11-0 to Loong and Goins earlier in the tournament, they delivered their own shutout in the finals, winning 11-0, 12-10, 11-7. The statement was clear: despite some hiccups along the way, Johns and Tardio remain the team to beat in men’s doubles.
The statistics surrounding their recent run are staggering. Since that Worlds finals loss, they have now won 30 consecutive matches and six straight tournaments, compiling a 66-5 record in games played. This level of sustained excellence raises an increasingly urgent question for the rest of the men’s doubles field: who has the game and the mental fortitude to step up and end this dominant streak? Several talented teams have come close, but until someone can consistently take games off Johns and Tardio and convert that into match victories, they will remain the undisputed kings of men’s doubles.
Emerging Storylines from Texas
Beyond the headline-grabbing performances from the sport’s biggest stars, several compelling storylines emerged from the Texas Open that hint at the evolving landscape of professional pickleball. These developments speak to both the depth of talent entering the professional ranks and the continuous improvement of players who have been competing on tour for years.
Alix Truong reached a significant milestone by making her first Championship Sunday appearance on United States soil. While Truong has found considerable success internationally—she captured four gold medals during the 2025 PPA Tour Asia events—breakthrough performances in the more competitive US tour events had eluded her until Texas. Partnering with her new Columbus Sliders teammate Parris Todd, Truong earned a silver medal in women’s doubles, demonstrating that her game travels well across different competitive environments. Truong has been trending upward recently, including a mixed doubles appearance with Christian Alshon in Newport, and her stock within the professional pickleball community is clearly rising.
The Atlanta Bouncer men, Jay Devilliers and Jaume Martinez Vich, delivered an impressive tournament performance that resulted in a bronze medal. Their run included significant victories over quality opponents, beginning with a win over Augie Ge and Connor Garnett 6-1 in the early rounds. The quarterfinals brought their biggest statement win when they defeated the highly-regarded team of Christian Alshon and Hayden Patriquin 11-6, 12-10. Although they fell to Staksrud and Daescu in a three-game semifinal battle, they bounced back with mental toughness to secure bronze with an 11-9, 11-7 victory over CJ Klinger and JW Johnson. Devilliers is playing exceptional pickleball on the left side while Martinez Vich continues working his way back to full strength following a minor injury, suggesting this partnership could be a factor in future tournaments.
Not every prominent player enjoyed success in Texas, highlighting the competitive depth that now characterizes professional pickleball. Christian Alshon endured a particularly difficult Quarterfinal Friday, suffering losses across all disciplines: falling to Devilliers and Martinez Vich in men’s doubles, losing to John Lucian Goins in singles, and he and partner Jessie Irvine losing to Gabe Tardio and Catherine Parenteau in mixed doubles. The Johnson siblings also faced disappointment, with JW and Jorja missing out on medals in their respective events. JW and partner CJ Klinger made the bronze medal match but couldn’t convert, while Jorja and Tyra Black suffered an upset loss to Mari Humberg and Millie Rane in the quarterfinals. These results underscore an important reality of modern professional pickleball: the margin between winning and losing at the highest level continues to shrink.
Understanding Triple Crowns and Tournament Format for Pickleball Newcomers
For those newer to following professional pickleball, understanding what makes achievements like Anna Leigh Waters’ triple crown so impressive requires some context about how professional tournaments are structured and the physical demands they place on competitors. Professional pickleball tournaments feature multiple disciplines—singles, doubles, and mixed doubles—that run concurrently throughout a tournament weekend, creating both scheduling challenges and incredible opportunities for versatile athletes.
A triple crown in pickleball means winning gold medals in all three available disciplines at a single tournament: singles, doubles, and mixed doubles. To accomplish this feat, a player must first be skilled enough to compete at the highest level in each discipline, which requires different strategic approaches and partner chemistry. Singles pickleball emphasizes individual court coverage, stamina, and the mental game of one-on-one competition. Doubles requires synchronization with a partner, specialized positional play, and communication. Mixed doubles adds another layer of complexity with different strategic considerations based on having male and female players on the court simultaneously.
The physical demands of pursuing a triple crown are extraordinary. Players competing in all three events might play multiple matches in a single day across different disciplines, requiring them to quickly shift mental gears between the strategic demands of each format. A player might finish a grueling singles match, have only a short break, and then need to immediately sync up with a partner for doubles play. This schedule continues throughout the tournament weekend, meaning that by Sunday’s finals, triple crown contenders might have played a dozen or more matches over three days in various formats.
The PPA Tour represents the highest level of professional pickleball competition in the world, attracting the sport’s elite athletes to compete for prize money, ranking points, and the prestige that comes with victory at this level. Tournaments are typically structured with pool play or early elimination rounds leading to a bracket format, with “Championship Sunday” featuring the finals matches in each discipline. The tour travels to different cities throughout the United States, with occasional international stops, and players accumulate ranking points based on their performance at each event. These rankings determine seeding for future tournaments and carry significant implications for qualification into major championships.
When someone like Anna Leigh Waters achieves multiple triple crowns in consecutive weeks, it demonstrates not just skill but remarkable physical conditioning and mental resilience. The fact that she accomplished this while competing in windy conditions that made ball control more difficult adds another layer of impressiveness to the achievement. For perspective, many highly skilled professional players focus on just one or two disciplines because the demands of competing at the highest level in all three are simply too great. Waters’ ability to dominate across all three formats simultaneously places her in a category occupied by very few players in the sport’s history.
Medal Distribution by MLP Teams and Individual Results
The Major League Pickleball team affiliations of tournament medalists provide interesting insight into which franchises are fielding the most successful rosters. The St. Louis Shock led all teams with five medals in Texas, including two golds and three silvers, powered by performances from Anna Bright, Gabe Tardio, Kate Fahey, and Hayden Patriquin. The New Jersey 5s, represented solely by Anna Leigh Waters, contributed three golds to their franchise tally through her triple crown achievement.
The LA Mad Drops added three medals through Ben Johns and Catherine Parenteau, including two golds and a bronze. The Columbus Sliders had a strong showing with five medals across multiple players including Parris Todd, Andrei Daescu, and Alix Truong, though their medals came in the form of three silvers and two bronzes. The Orlando Squeeze (Federico Staksrud) earned a gold and silver, while the Brooklyn Pickleball Team (Chris Haworth and Rachel Rohrabacher) contributed a silver and bronze. The Atlanta Bouncers rounded out the team medal count with three bronzes from Kaitlyn Christian, Jay Devilliers, and Jaume Martinez Vich. Zane Ford, competing as a non-rostered player, earned a bronze medal in men’s singles.
The complete medal results across all disciplines were as follows: In women’s singles, Anna Leigh Waters took gold, Kate Fahey earned silver, and Kaitlyn Christian captured bronze. Men’s singles saw Federico Staksrud claim gold, Chris Haworth take silver, and Zane Ford earn bronze. Mixed doubles gold went to Anna Leigh Waters and Ben Johns, with silver to Anna Bright and Hayden Patriquin, and bronze to Parris Todd and Andrei Daescu. Women’s doubles featured gold medalists Anna Bright and Anna Leigh Waters, silver medalists Alix Truong and Parris Todd, and bronze medalists Rachel Rohrabacher and Catherine Parenteau. Finally, men’s doubles gold went to Gabe Tardio and Ben Johns, silver to Federico Staksrud and Andrei Daescu, and bronze to Jaume Martinez Vich and Jay Devilliers.
Looking Ahead to the Greater Zion Cup
Following the conclusion of the Texas Open, the PPA Tour takes a brief respite before returning to action in eight days for the PPA Greater Zion Cup at Black Desert Resort, an event formerly known as the Red Rock Open. This tournament carries additional significance as it is designated as a Cup event, which typically means elevated prize money, increased ranking points, and heightened competitive intensity as players jockey for position in the season-long standings.
The break comes at an opportune time for players to recover from the physical and mental demands of the Texas tournament, particularly given the challenging windy conditions that required constant adaptation and likely contributed to additional physical strain from modified swings and movements. Players will use this time to rest, analyze video from their performances, and prepare strategies for the unique conditions they’ll face at Black Desert Resort.
As the 2026 season continues to unfold, several compelling narratives are developing that promise to make the remainder of the year fascinating for pickleball fans. Can anyone solve the Ben Johns and Gabe Tardio puzzle in men’s doubles and end their winning streak? Will Anna Leigh Waters finally lose a singles match and see her 650-plus day streak come to an end? How will the battle for supremacy in men’s singles play out among Federico Staksrud, Chris Haworth, and Hunter Johnson? And which emerging players will break through to capture their first major titles?
The answers to these questions will be revealed as the tour progresses, but if the Texas Open is any indication, the 2026 season will continue to provide compelling competition, breakthrough performances, and dominant displays from the sport’s elite athletes. Despite the challenging conditions in Texas,
