Tama Shimabukuro and JW Johnson won the Men’s Doubles title. Photo Credit: PPA Tour
3,000 Up for Grabs in Texas
Major upsets, dominant performances and five championship finals defined a pivotal week at the Opendoor Pickleball World Championships
By Jacob Burton
November 11, 2026 • 9 min read
Mind-Boggling Milestones
The stakes were high, the competition fierce, and the history unforgettable. The 2026 Opendoor Pickleball World Championships brought the PPA Tour’s top professionals to Brookhaven Country Club in Farmers Branch, Texas, November 2–8, with 3,000 ranking points on the line in each championship division. Across five professional brackets, unexpected upsets, dramatic comebacks and record-setting performances defined a week that saw established champions reinforce their dominance and rising stars announce their arrival.
The championships attracted a record 4,076 registered players across professional and amateur divisions, with $1,648,641 in total payouts, including appearance fees. Featuring the season’s largest professional draw, the tournament offered competitors an opportunity to earn valuable ranking points and claim one of the PPA Tour’s most coveted titles.
The event was part of a 10-day celebration that began with the inaugural Major League Pickleball Nations Cup, featuring eight international teams. Pickleball Boulevard transformed the club’s roadway into a festival of live music, clinics, shopping and fan activities. A celebrity exhibition featuring Mark Wahlberg, Jeremy Piven, John Isner and Sean O’Malley added to the festivities.
On the court, the championships produced several defining moments, including a historic victory by 15-year-old Tama Shimabukuro and another record-setting performance by Anna Leigh Waters. Their achievements, alongside a series of unexpected results, set the stage for five compelling championship finals.
A Surprising Champion Emerges
Men’s singles opened Tuesday with Christopher Haworth holding the No. 1 seed, followed by Federico Staksrud, Hunter Johnson and Christian Alshon among the leading contenders.
The Round of 64 produced an immediate surprise when No. 59 Jaxon Madsen defeated eighth-seeded Connor Garnett. Madsen captured the opening game 11-7 before Garnett responded with an 11-5 victory. Madsen then dominated the deciding game 11-1, eliminating one of the bracket’s top contenders.
Wednesday brought additional upsets. Sixth-seeded Tama Shimabukuro fell to No. 34 Donald Young 12-10, 11-7, while No. 18 Luc Pham eliminated tenth-seeded Zane Ford 11-1, 11-3. Madsen nearly extended his run but lost to JW Johnson in three games.
The Round of 16 delivered another major upset when former professional tennis star Jack Sock defeated second-seeded Federico Staksrud. After dropping the opening game 11-3, Sock rallied to win the next two 11-6, 11-8.
Friday’s quarterfinals continued to reshape the bracket. Sock eliminated Roscoe Bellamy 11-8, 11-7, while seventh-seeded John Lucian Goins defeated top-seeded Haworth 11-5, 11-5. In the semifinals, Goins defeated Alshon 11-4, 11-9, while Sock overcame Hunter Johnson in three games, 11-5, 8-11, 11-1.
Sunday’s championship brought together two players who had navigated difficult paths to the final. Goins ended Sock’s remarkable run, winning 11-5, 12-10 to claim the men’s singles title.
The victory gave Goins his second consecutive singles championship, fourth career PPA Tour title and second title of the season. His ability to deliver against the tournament’s strongest competitors further established him as one of the tour’s emerging singles stars.
For Sock, the silver medal marked another impressive performance in his transition from professional tennis to pickleball, even as his pursuit of a first PPA Tour singles title continued.
Top Seeds Dominate Women’s Singles
Anna Leigh Waters entered the women’s singles bracket as the No. 1 seed, followed by Kate Fahey, Kaitlyn Christian and Brooke Buckner.
Tuesday’s opening round produced several notable upsets. No. 52 Natalia Simson defeated thirteenth-seeded Genie Bouchard in three games, while No. 61 Shannon Pretorius eliminated fifth-seeded Chao Yi Wang. Pretorius won the first game 11-2, lost the second 11-0 and recovered to take the deciding game 11-7.
Rising 13-year-old Elsie Hendershot also advanced after defeating No. 26 Marcela Aguila Ampon in three games.
Wednesday saw several underdogs continue their runs. Sofia Sewing eliminated Judit Castillo, while Helena Jansen defeated Sahra Dennehy. Meanwhile, the top four seeds advanced without significant difficulty.
In Thursday’s Round of 16, Sewing defeated Jansen in three games, 11-1, 13-15, 11-2. Jorja Johnson delivered another upset, defeating sixth-seeded Kiora Kunimoto 11-9, 0-11, 11-8.
The quarterfinals brought an end to several underdog runs. Waters defeated Sewing, while Christian eliminated Johnson in a closely contested three-game match. Buckner and Fahey also advanced, leaving the top four seeds in the semifinals.
Waters continued her dominance by defeating Buckner 11-2, 11-0. Fahey secured her championship appearance with an equally convincing 11-1, 11-3 victory over Christian.
The championship featured the tournament’s top two seeds, but Waters quickly established control. She defeated Fahey 11-3, 11-2, securing her 300th career PPA Tour singles victory and 67th career singles title.
The victory also extended another remarkable record. Waters has now won 56 consecutive finals dating back to June 2022, demonstrating a level of consistency rarely seen in professional sports.
More importantly, the singles championship completed Waters’ 46th career Triple Crown, as the 19-year-old captured gold in women’s singles, women’s doubles and mixed doubles at the same tournament.
After already competing in eight doubles games earlier on Championship Sunday, Waters still delivered a commanding singles performance, reinforcing her position as one of professional pickleball’s most dominant athletes.
Johnson and Shimabukuro Complete the Comeback
The men’s doubles competition opened with several unexpected results. No. 43 Rio Newcombe and Andrew Caldarella defeated No. 21 Zane Navratil and George Wall in three games, while No. 41 Gregory Dow and Armaan Jiwa Mawji eliminated No. 17 Will Howells and Clayton Powell.
The Round of 32 produced additional movement in the bracket. No. 24 Matt Wright and John Lucian Goins defeated No. 15 Jonathan Truong and Max Freeman, while eighteenth-seeded Will MacKinnon and Hunter Johnson eliminated No. 10 Yuta Funemizu and Armaan Bhatia.
As the competition progressed, the leading partnerships began separating themselves from the field. Third-seeded Christian Alshon and Andrei Daescu defeated MacKinnon and Johnson in the quarterfinals, while fourth-seeded JW Johnson and Tama Shimabukuro also advanced.
Klinger and Oncins produced another significant result by eliminating second-seeded Federico Staksrud and Hayden Patriquin 11-8, 11-4.
The semifinals delivered one of the tournament’s biggest doubles upsets. Alshon and Daescu defeated top-seeded Ben Johns and Gabriel Tardio 11-9, 11-6, earning a championship appearance against Johnson and Shimabukuro, who had eliminated Klinger and Oncins 11-4, 11-6.
Alshon and Daescu appeared to be in complete control of Sunday’s final, winning the first two games by identical 11-5 scores.
Johnson and Shimabukuro, however, refused to surrender. With the Dallas crowd behind them, the fourth-seeded partnership began shifting the momentum. They captured the third game 11-4 and the fourth 11-8, forcing a decisive fifth game.
The championship became a test of composure and endurance as both teams battled through extended rallies. One exchange lasted an extraordinary 91 shots, the longest in a PPA Tour men’s doubles final since a 122-shot rally in Sacramento earlier in the season.
Johnson and Shimabukuro completed the comeback with an 11-4 victory in the deciding game, winning three consecutive games after falling behind 2-0. The reverse sweep marked the first such comeback in a PPA Tour men’s doubles final since October 2023.
At just 15 years old, Shimabukuro became the youngest men’s doubles champion in PPA Tour history, adding another milestone to an already remarkable championship performance. The victory marked the first PPA Tour men’s doubles title for the Johnson-Shimabukuro partnership and Johnson’s 14th career doubles championship.
What began as a seemingly one-sided final became one of the most memorable matches of the tournament, demonstrating the determination of a young partnership capable of competing with the sport’s established stars.
Waters and Bright Deliver Again
Women’s doubles began Wednesday with 48 teams in the draw, allowing several higher seeds to advance directly into the Round of 32. The opening round included a few surprises. No. 42 Ava Cavataio and Helena Jansen defeated No. 18 Angie Walker and Alex Walker in three games, while No. 33 Lindsey Newman and Naomi Nguyen eliminated No. 26 Jamie Haas and Rika Fujiwara.
Top-seeded Anna Bright and Anna Leigh Waters opened their tournament with a dominant performance, allowing just one combined point across two games. As the tournament progressed, the leading partnerships continued to advance. Bright and Waters dominated their Round of 16 match 11-3, 11-0, while Brooke Buckner and Kaitlyn Christian defeated Alix Truong and Jessie Irvine in three games.
The quarterfinals produced a significant upset when fifth-seeded Sofia Sewing and Catherine Parenteau defeated second-seeded Tyra Black and Jorja Johnson. Bright and Waters advanced comfortably, as did Rachel Rohrabacher and Parris Todd.
Kate Fahey and Tina Pisnik also secured a semifinal appearance after defeating Mari Humberg and Milan Rane 12-10, 11-9.
Sewing and Parenteau continued their strong tournament by defeating Fahey and Pisnik in straight games, both by 11-5 scores. Bright and Waters booked their place in the final with an 11-3, 11-5 victory over Rohrabacher and Todd.
Sunday’s championship once again demonstrated the strength of the top-seeded partnership. Bright and Waters defeated Sewing and Parenteau 11-4, 11-9, 11-5, securing their 18th consecutive tournament title together. The achievement established a new PPA Tour record for consecutive tournament victories by a doubles partnership across men’s, women’s and mixed doubles. The championship was also the pair’s 28th career title together and fifth of the season.
For Bright and Waters, the victory represented another historic accomplishment in a partnership that continues to set the standard for professional doubles competition. Their remarkable streak has become one of the defining achievements of the modern PPA Tour.
Mixed Doubles Delivers a Five-Game Final
Mixed doubles brought together many of the tournament’s biggest names and produced several notable early upsets.
In Tuesday’s Round of 64, No. 49 Mitchell Hargreaves and Jamie Haas eliminated fifteenth-seeded Chao Yi Wang and Roscoe Bellamy 11-9, 13-11.
No. 51 Aiko Yoshitomi and Luca Mack delivered another surprise, defeating tenth-seeded Dekel Bar and Jessie Irvine 11-8, 11-1. Mohaned Alhouni and Lina Padegimaite also advanced after defeating Isabella Dunlap and James Delgado in three games.
Top-seeded Anna Leigh Waters and Ben Johns opened their campaign with a commanding 11-0, 11-1 victory.
Thursday’s Round of 16 saw nearly all the leading teams advance. Johns and Waters defeated Lacy Schneemann and Jack Sock 11-2, 11-8, while Sahra Dennehy and Tama Shimabukuro upset seventh-seeded Kate Fahey and Federico Staksrud in three games.
The top four seeds ultimately reached the semifinals. Johns and Waters advanced with another straight-game victory, while Anna Bright and Hayden Patriquin, JW Johnson and Jorja Johnson, and Rachel Rohrabacher and Christian Alshon also secured their places.
In the semifinals, Johns and Waters defeated Rohrabacher and Alshon 11-8, 11-5. The Johnson siblings produced an impressive performance against Bright and Patriquin, winning 11-2, 11-4.
The championship between Johns and Waters and the Johnson siblings became one of the week’s most competitive finals. JW and Jorja Johnson captured the opening game 11-9, but Johns and Waters responded with consecutive victories, 11-6 and 11-9.
Facing elimination, the Johnsons fought back to win the fourth game 11-3, forcing a decisive fifth game.
Johns and Waters ultimately prevailed 11-4, securing the mixed doubles championship in a match lasting more than two hours.
The victory marked the partnership’s 68th career title together, further extending one of professional pickleball’s most successful mixed doubles pairings.
For Waters, the championship was particularly significant. Combined with her victories in women’s singles and women’s doubles, it completed her 46th Triple Crown and another extraordinary weekend of competition.
A Major with Lasting Implications
The 2026 Opendoor Pickleball World Championships delivered far more than five professional titles. With 3,000 ranking points available to each champion, the tournament carried significant implications for the PPA Tour standings.
Record participation, the season’s largest professional draw and more than $1.6 million in total payouts, including appearance fees, demonstrated the growing scale of competitive pickleball. The international Nations Cup, festival activities and celebrity exhibition also highlighted the sport’s expanding appeal.
On the court, the championships offered a remarkable combination of established dominance and emerging talent.
John Lucian Goins captured his second consecutive singles title, defeating Jack Sock in a final shaped by two unexpected tournament runs. Anna Leigh Waters reached 300 career singles victories and secured her 46th Triple Crown. Anna Bright and Waters extended their record-setting partnership to 18 consecutive titles, while 15-year-old Tama Shimabukuro made history alongside JW Johnson.
The men’s doubles final provided one of the tournament’s defining moments, as Johnson and Shimabukuro overcame a two-game deficit to claim the championship in a five-game thriller.
From unexpected early eliminations to championship performances that rewrote the record books, the World Championships offered a compelling picture of professional pickleball’s present and future.
As the season moves forward, the ranking points earned in Texas could prove just as important as the trophies awarded on Championship Sunday. ●
About Jacob Burton
Based in West Chester, PA, Jacob Burton is a senior at West Chester University who covers tournaments and other stories in pickleball. His work has also been featured in The Quad newspaper at West Chester University. When he isn’t writing, you can find him on the soccer field playing his childhood sport.
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