The Dink's Top 20 Women's Pickleball Power Rankings

Welcome to The Dink's Power Rankings, a new feature that we'll roll out every Monday, spotlighting a different category each week.

Fresh off the PPA Mesa Arizona Cup, we're following up on our Top 20 Men's Singles Power Rankings with a look at the ladies' game.

Note: These are a subjective view of the field. I am taking into account a variety of factors, including stats, recent form and the competitive landscape. Here are some factors used to determine the rankings:

• Recent finishes
• PPA Points - both total points (52 weeks) and the race points (just points in 2024)
• PPA seedings
• Head-to-head competitions

This is NOT a scientific algorithm or an AI bot making picks. I'm just a guy who watches A LOT of pickleball. With that being said, I am only including players who have recently played on the PPA Tour.

Please note: Both Irena Tereschenko and Yana Newell had great seasons in 2023, but I haven't seen them play yet this year, so for now they are out of my power rankings.

The women's side of things is a little more difficult than the men's side. Everyone tries to play as much men's singles as possible. However, on the women's side we have 4-5 elite women who either don't play singles very often, or take quite a few events off, which makes the power rankings a little challenging. 

20. Brooke Revuelta - The young lefty has been making a name for herself the last few months. She played well in the Arizona Pickleball League, she has a great drive from both forehand and two-handed backhand, and she is deceptively quick. She made it to the Round of 16 in Phoenix and she notched a 5th-place finish in the Hertz Gold Cup in November. Lastly, she just won the APP Next Gen event in San Antonio. Look for her to continue to make some waves.

19. Ekatarina Biakina - The Russian is relatively unknown – she hasn't really made waves in gender or mixed doubles, but has very solid results in singles. The former tennis player, turned beach tennis player, is now a pickleball singles specialist? We need to see more of her to be sure of her staying power, but her results don't lie: In her last six events: 15th, 10th, 15th, 5th, and 19th.

18. Jill Braverman - Jilly B does not have a huge track record of dominant singles play. As I mentioned in my PPA Mesa Arizona Cup Recap, I think it was crazy she was forced to play in the qualifiers. She withdrew from The Masters but in Mesa, she proved she has what it takes to be a top 20 woman on tour. She beat three people in the main draw before eventually losing to Mary Brascia. If Braverman continues to play singles, she will rise in this list.

Jill Braverman

17. Hurricane Tyra Black - The only reason Tyra is on this list is because of her win at the Takeya Showcase, when she beat Anna Leigh Waters and then Yana Newell to take the crown. She then followed up that performance with a 15th, 12th, and 17th-place finish. The last singles event she played was in October at the PPA Las Vegas. If she doesn't play any singles in the month of March she will most likely not be on this list moving forward.

16. Jorja Johnson - Another victim of few results. Jorja does take some tournaments off when it comes to singles. She has skipped three of the last 10 PPA events. In the seven events she did play her average finish is 11th. Jorja got bronze in the Kansas City Open, but that was back in August. Her last three events: 17th, 14th, and 13th. If she can find the podium again soon she should move up in the rankings.

15. Anna Bright - Let's face the facts: Anna Bright is easily a top 5 woman in singles – she just doesn't play enough to be higher. Bright got a 5th-place finish in Mesa. Her only other singles event in the last eight months was the Cincinnati Open, and she actually withdrew from that event. Bright has all the tools to be top 5, but if she doesn't play in many singles events she will keep slipping in the rankings.

14. Liz Truluck - Truluck seems to be working hard at pickleball, especially in singles. Has she had a breakthrough run on tour to become a household name yet? No. However, she is playing every event, getting wins, and getting consistent finishes. She has played the last eight PPA events with an average finishing place of 13.8. Her worst finish was 22nd at the Kansas City Open. Her best finish came three weeks ago at PPA Desert Ridge - 6th place. Look for her to breakout at some point this year.

Liz Truluck

13. Lacy Schneemann - If we were doing these at the end of 2023, Schneemann would have been in the 7-9 range. However, the start of 2024 hasn't been great for Lacy in terms of singles. She got upset by Parris Todd at The Masters, beat by Brooke Buckner in three in Desert Ridge, and then upset by Kaitlyn Christian in Mesa. None of these losses are bad losses, obviously. This shows how much depth the women's singles field has right now. I think Lacy will bounce back and be a mainstay in the Top 10.

12. Lauren Stratman - Pop quiz – Aside from Anna Leigh Waters and Catherine Parenteau, who has the most PPA women's singles medals in the last eight months? Brascia? Salome? Lea? NOPE. Lauren Stratman. Stratman got bronze at The Takeya Showcase, TOC, and The Hertz Gold Cup. The reason Lauren isn't higher here is because although she has some great finishes, she also has some very inconsistent performances as well. She finished 19th at both PPA Las Vegas and The Masters, and followed that up with a 25th-place finish at Desert Ridge. When she is on, she is on. When she is off, she can produce some poor results.

11. Parris Todd - Todd is a very good singles player. How good? We don't really know because she mostly played APPs last year. She started out this year strong with a 5th-place showing at The Masters and followed that up with a 4th at the APP Punta Gorda. Hopefully we see her play more high-level competition throughout this year to get a true barometer for where her game is.

10. Dominique Schaefer - Schaefer definitely made a name for herself in 2023. She did very well on the APP Tour in singles and even got a bronze medal at the PPA Las Vegas in October. While 2024 hasn't gotten her off to a huge start, her 13th at The Masters and 14th finish in Mesa are putting her on track to stay among the elite. She has a little work to do to stay there.

9. Kaitlyn Christian - The former tennis star (No. 38 in women's doubles in the world) has committed to full-time pickleball now. She is extremely athletic, has amazing ground strokes, and is still figuring out the game. She already has wins over Lacy Schneemann, Salome Devidze, and Brooke Buckner – all in our Power Rankings. I wouldn't be surprised by the end of the year if she was top 3.

8. Judit Castillo - Judit is more of an APP player than PPAs. However, since the Tournament Of Champions in Utah, she has played in five PPA singles events. Her worst finish in those events was 8th at the Kansas City Open. Judit also just won gold at the APP Punta Gorda. Castillo just needs more events to keep climbing the ranks.

7. Lina Padegimaite - Lina is not a super well known name in pickleball and when I was doing my research, I was surprised with her results. Padegimaite is big and athletic and can cover some serious court. In the seven events prior to Mesa, she finished between 5th and 8th in every single event. So she isn't winning anything, but she is consistently beating the people she should and making it to the quarterfinals almost every time she plays. Mesa was unlucky for her as she got put in the draw with Anna Bright, who everyone knows is not actually a No. 21 seed.

6. Brooke Buckner - Buckner didn't have many results in the latter half of 2023 because she gave birth to her daughter, Margo, in November. So, did Brooke have a child, take a few months to rest and recuperate before playing singles again? No way! She got bronze at The Masters and finished in the quarterfinals of both PPA Desert Ridge and Mesa. In Mesa, she beat Kaitlyn Christian, avenging the loss to her at Desert Ridge. Buckner still has it with her crafty and consistent singles play.

5. Salome Devidze - Salome still splits her time between the APP and PPA Tours. She played in five of the last 10 PPA events, with an average finish of 5.4. Devidze won the Hertz Gold Cup in November and got silver at TOC. The veteran can still play singles at an extremely high level.

Salome Devidze

4. Lea Jansen - Jansen is making a singles comeback. In 2023, when she announced she was retiring from singles, every media outlet started making jokes about when we would see Lea playing singles again. The answer? The Progressive Draw. The Type 1 diabetic pays extremely close attention to her body and glucose levels, and the Progressive Draw allows her to only play one match per day, which is ideal. When Jansen is on, she is a force to be reckoned with. This year she has finished 4th, 4th, and 3rd.

3. Mary Brascia - Back-to-back silver medals? No big deal. Brascia doesn't ever seem like the spotlight is too big. She is calm and determined when she is playing. She has all the shots necessary to beat anyone on any given day. Mary has played the last 11 PPA events and finished outside of the quarterfinals only twice. Brascia is the clear cut third best woman on tour right now.

2. Catherine Parenteau - This should give you an indication of how good Parenteau has been recently. Catherine had a TERRIBLE (haha) finish in Mesa, losing to Salome in three games in the quarterfinals for a 6th-place finish. In the seven events prior to that, Catherine had placed either first or second in EVERY. SINGLE. ONE. She is more consistent finisher than Anna Leigh, but in the heads up battles, she loses.

1. Anna Leigh Waters - Eight wins in the last 10 attempts. That's pretty good. Anna Leigh has the most wins and most medals in the last eight months on tour. She dominates the competition and shows that she has the most mental fortitude of anyone out there. Winning as consistently as she has is extremely hard to do. I don't see her losing the top spot anytime soon.

Anna Leigh Waters