PPA Cape Coral Open Tournament Preview

It has been two weeks since the PPA National Indoor Championships finished up and the PPA Tour is back in action in Cape Coral, Florida. The newly renamed "The Courts" (formerly known as the "Lake Kennedy Racquet Center" are hosting the events from February 9 - 15, 2026.

This marks the third stop on the PPA Tour in the 2026 calendar year. This is the first of two back-to-back tournaments, as the PPA Mesa Cup begins just a day after this one ends.

The PPA Cape Coral Open is exactly as its name suggests - an Open level event, worth 1,000 PPA Points to the winners. Of note, ALL tournaments are progressive draws this year, regardless of level.

How to Watch the PPA Cape Coral Open

The PPA Tour is experimenting with a bit of a change to the broadcast schedule of Open level events in 2026. Essentially, matches will be broadcast with live commentary Thursday - Sunday. However, the PPA Streamed Courts on YouTube will still have the action Monday - Wednesday.

Monday, Tuesday, & Wednesday - PPA Streamed Courts YouTube Channel

Thursday, February 12 - Rd of 16

• 10am - 6pm ET - Championship Court - pickleballtv
• 10am - 6pm ET – Grandstand Court - pickleballtv

Friday, February 13 - Quarterfinals

• 10am - 6pm ET - Championship Court - pickleballtv
• 10am - 6pm ET – Grandstand Court - pickleballtv

Saturday, February 14 - Semifinals

• 10am - 6pm ET - Championship Court - pickleballtv
• 10am - 6pm ET – Grandstand Court - pickleballtv

Sunday, February 15 - Championship Sunday

• 10am - 4pm ET - Championship Court - pickleballtv
• 10am - 6pm ET – Grandstand Court - pickleballtv

Weather Outlook for PPA Cape Coral

Obviously it is a little early to be predicting rain on Championship Sunday. However, that does seem like a real possibility. Temperatures will be in the mid to upper 70s, with lows in the 50s, throughout the week.

Let's get into the action.

*As of publishing, the PPA Tour has not made the brackets readily available, so if you are looking to take a look at the brackets, watch this preview video:

When brackets do become available, they will be added back into this article.

Women's Singles

Top Storylines

• Anna Leigh Waters has decided to skip this event in singles only and the field is wide open
• Kate Fahey is the #1 seed in this tournament, but she has not won since the Sacramento Open, on September 28, 2025 - 133 days ago
• Brooke Buckner is looking for her first medal in 2026

Top Dark Horse Candidates

• We saw (17) Kiora Kunimoto make a semifinal run at the Indoor National Championships two weeks ago - she has a relatively good road to make another run
• (18) Jamie Wei is very good, but might have to get through Jalina Ingram and then Kaitlyn Christian, in order to make a deep run

Predictions

Semifinalists: (1) Kate Fahey, (9) Judit Castillo, (2) Kaitlyn Christian, and (4) Lea Jansen

Finals: Kate Fahey takes down Lea Jansen in the finals

Men's Singles

Top Storylines

• (1) Hunter Johnson was able to take down Chris Haworth for his first tournament win in a while in Minnesota - can he keep the momentum going?
• (6) Roscoe Bellamy has been on a tear as of late - his last three events:
  • December - Lakeland Open - Gold
  • January - Masters - Bronze
  • January - Indoor Championships - Bronze
• It is absolutely crazy to see Tyson McGuffin as the 40 seed, but he just hasn't strung together results in the past year

Top Dark Horse Candidates

• Recently signed (54) Christopher Crouch is a good overall player, but will have to get through (16) Marshall Brown in the first round
• (46) Cam Chaffin made a deep run in Minnesota, upsetting Fed - does he have another one in him?

Predictions

Semifinalists: (6) Roscoe Bellamy, (3) Christian Alshon, (2) Federico Staksrud, and (4) Chris Haworth

Finals: Chris Haworth beats Christian Alshon in two in the finals

Mixed Doubles

Top Storylines

• Anna Leigh Waters and Ben Johns, while both skipping singles, are playing mixed doubles and are the #1 seed - it has now been over 300 days since their last match loss
• In what may be the most head-scratching partnership I have seen in a long time, (11) Hurricane Tyra Black is playing with Mo Alhouni
• Of course the Truong siblings play with different partners for an event and what happens? They will face off against each other in the second round if they both make it that far
• (4) Christian Alshon and Rachel Rohrabacher are teaming up after Alshon dropped Tyra and Will Howells hurt his ankle in Minnesota

Predictions

Semifinalists: (1) Anna Leigh Waters/Ben Johns, (3) Catherine Parenteau/Gabe Tardio, (2) Jorja Johnson/JW Johnson, and (3) Anna Bright/Hayden Patriquin

Finals: ALW and Ben beat AB and Hayden in four games

Women's Doubles

Top Storylines

• (1) Anna Leigh Waters and Anna Bright are the #1 seed and will reach 150 consecutive days without losing a match together
• (5) Parris Todd and Alix Truong make for a fascinating pairing - they will face off against the Kawamotos in the quarters, if they both make it that far
• It looks like the super solid team of Kate Fahey and Tina Pisnik are at least going to try out new partners, with Kate teaming up with Lacy Schneemann as the 6 seed, and Tina with Millie Rane as the 10 seed

Predictions

Semifinalists: (1) Anna Bright/Anna Leigh Waters, (3) Jorja Johnson/Hurricane Tyra Black, (2) Catherine Parenteau/Rachel Rohrabacher, and (4) Jade & Jackie Kawamoto

Finals: Jorja and Tyra upset AB and ALW in the semis and then beat Jade and Jackie for the title

Men's Doubles

Top Storylines

• Gabe Tardio and Ben Johns are still the #1 seed, and Ben Johns is the #1 ranked men's doubles player again, despite Tardio taking over that spot for a couple of weeks
• (10) Collin Johns is playing with Jaume Martinez Vich, and of course the "random" seeding by the PPA will probably pair them against Julian Arnold and Martin Emmrich in the first round - let's just say there is no love lost between Johns and Arnold
• The normal top four seeds are playing here in Cape Coral - it would be a big upset for any one of them to miss the semis

Predictions

Semifinalists: (1) Gabe Tardio/Ben Johns, (3) Federico Staksrud/Andrei Daescu, (2) Christian Alshon/Hayden Patriquin, and (4) CJ Klinger and JW Johnson

Finals: Gabe and Ben beat Hayden and Christian in four games