The Rate Las Vegas Open Tournament Preview

The PPA Tour heads from one desert to another this week, with the Rate Las Vegas Open taking place September 28 through October 4 at the Darling Tennis Center.

This is the second Open of the 2026-27 PPA Tour season, meaning 1,000 PPA points are available to the winner in each division.

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Unlike last week's Arizona Open, where several top players skipped, the Las Vegas field is much closer to full strength. Anna Bright, Hayden Patriquin and Gabe Tardio are all back, which means several of the Tour's most established partnerships return as well.

Here are the biggest storylines to watch, followed by a breakdown of all five pro brackets.

Five Storylines to Watch

1. Anna Leigh Waters Can Reach 200 Career Titles

Anna Leigh Waters isn't playing singles this week, but she enters Las Vegas just two titles away from 200 career PPA Tour titles.

That makes the path pretty simple: win women's doubles with Anna Bright and mixed doubles with Ben Johns, and Waters leaves Las Vegas at 200.

Those are also two partnerships with plenty of history at this venue. Waters and Johns have won mixed doubles in Las Vegas four straight years, while Waters and Bright are the defending women's doubles champions.

2. Bright, Patriquin and Tardio Are Back

Three major names missing from Mesa return this week.

Bright is back alongside Waters in women's doubles and Patriquin in mixed doubles. Tardio reunites with Johns in men's doubles and partners Tyra Black in mixed.

That immediately makes the doubles fields considerably stronger than they were in Arizona.

3. Women's Singles Is Wide Open

With Waters not playing singles, somebody else is guaranteed to leave Las Vegas with the title.

Kate Fahey is the No. 1 seed, followed by Kaitlyn Christian, Lea Jansen and Zoey Wang. Genie Bouchard, last year's runner-up, is also back as the No. 7 seed - but she hasn’t played on the PPA Tour in nearly five months. Will she be rusty?

Anytime Waters sits out singles, the opportunity for the rest of the field becomes dramatically bigger.

4. Can the Mesa Breakouts Do It Again?

Last week's Arizona Open gave several lower-seeded players their biggest PPA results.

Jalina Ingram made noise in women's singles. Kiora Kunimoto and Elliott Schupp broke through in mixed doubles. Nico Acevedo and Yuta Funemizu reached the men's doubles final as the No. 15 seed before losing a wild championship match to Christian Alshon and Andrei Daescu.

Kunimoto and Schupp are back together this week. Acevedo is teaming up with Jaume Martinez Vich.

Now we get to see whether those Mesa runs were one-week surprises or the beginning of something bigger.

5. Johns/Tardio vs. Alshon/Daescu, Part Two?

Christian Alshon and Andrei Daescu arrive in Las Vegas fresh off their men's doubles title in Mesa.

They also have some unfinished business at Darling Tennis Center.

Last year's Las Vegas final against Ben Johns and Gabe Tardio lasted two hours and 28 minutes, with Johns and Tardio eventually winning 12-10 in Game 5.

Johns/Tardio are the No. 1 seed this week.

Alshon/Daescu are No. 2.

A rematch would be a pretty good way to close out the weekend.

Weather Outlook

The first couple days could bring some thunderstorms, but the bigger story will likely be the heat. Temperatures are expected to climb into the mid-90s later in the week before approaching or exceeding 100 degrees over the weekend. Apparently leaving Mesa does not mean leaving the desert heat behind.

How to Watch the Rate Las Vegas Open

All times are Pacific

The PPA Tour's broadcast schedule begins Thursday with the Round of 16.

Thursday, October 1 — Round of 16

• 2pm-10pm — PickleballTV

Friday, October 2 — Quarterfinals

• 2pm-10pm — PickleballTV

Saturday, October 3 — Semifinals

• 1pm-9pm — PickleballTV

Sunday, October 4 — Championships

• 10am-3pm — PickleballTV
• 10am-2pm — Tennis Channel and PickleballTV

Women’s Singles

Top Storylines

• Fahey gets the No. 1 seed and already knows how to win here. She captured the Las Vegas singles title in 2024.
• Genie Bouchard is a dangerous No. 7 seed after reaching the final here last year.
• Jalina Ingram is coming off a strong showing in Mesa and could see Fahey in the quarters, but she has to get through No. 5 seed Kiora Kunimoto first.
• Keep an eye on Zoey Weil and Isabella Dunlap, who both sit in Zoey Wang's section of the draw.
• Sofia Sewing could get Kaitlyn Christian in the Round of 16. That's a matchup I am excited for.

Predictions

Semifinalists: (1) Kate Fahey, (8) Isabella Dunlap, (23) Sofia Sewing, (3) Lea Jansen

Champion: Kate Fahey defeats Sofia Sewing in the finals

Men’s Singles

Top Storylines

• Can Haworth go back-to-back? He enters with momentum and a relatively favorable path early.
• The most interesting potential matchup in the quarterfinals is Christian Alshon vs. Ben Johns.
• We could get another Staksrud-Hunter Johnson semifinal after the two played a great match in Mesa.
• Roscoe Bellamy made the final here last year and is always dangerous in singles.
• The WPR bye system is at it again in Vegas - (19) Ben Johns and (20) Eric Oncins both get double byes into the Round of 16 despite being low seeds - how long will this last?

Predictions

Semifinalists: (1) Chris Haworth, (4) Christian Alshon, (2) Federico Staksrud, (3) Hunter Johnson

Champion: Chris Haworth over Federico Staksrud in a rematch of the Arizona Open 

Mixed Doubles

Top Storylines

• Waters and Johns have dominated this tournament, winning Las Vegas four straight years.
• Bright and Patriquin return as the No. 2 seed after both skipped Mesa.
• Mesa breakout team Kiora Kunimoto/Elliott Schupp is only the No. 34 seed and could run into Bright/Patriquin early.
• Sofia Sewing/Casey Diamond are another low seed that I wouldn't want to see early - and that is exactly what Jack Sock and Lea Jansen are going to do in the Round of 64.

Predictions

Semifinalists: (1) Waters/Johns, (4) Black/Tardio, (7) Fahey/Staksrud, (3) Pisnik/AlshonChampion: ALW and Ben make it five in a row in Vegas over Fahey and Staksrud

Women’s Doubles

Top Storylines

• The Annas are back. Waters and Bright immediately return to the top seed.
• Black/Parenteau feels like the clearest challenger to Waters and Bright, but they might run into some trouble with the No. 5 seed, Sofia Sewing/Tina Pisnik, who already have plenty of chemistry from MLP..
• Schneemann/Fahey vs. Jansen/Irvine could be one of the best quarterfinals of the week.
• Rachel Rohrabacher got married this past weekend, so she is sitting this one out, along with her normal partner, Parris Todd.

Predictions

Semifinalists: (1) Waters/Bright, (4) Wei/Dizon, (5) Sewing/Pisnik, (3) Schneemann/Fahey

Champion: The Annas bear Sewing and Pisnik in the finals

Men’s Doubles

Top Storylines

• Johns/Tardio return as defending champions and the No. 1 seed.
• Alshon/Daescu are rolling. They won Mesa and look extremely comfortable with Alshon committed to the left side.
• Pablo Tellez/Will Howells are another team capable of making a deep run, despite the double digit seed.
• Elliott Schupp/John Lucian Goins are a young team worth tracking in the early rounds.

Predictions

Semifinalists: (1) Johns/Tardio, (4) Oncins/Clinger, (2) Patriquin/Staksrud, (3) Alshon/Daescu

Champion: Ben and Gabe defeat Hayden and Fed in the finals