Top Plays and Moments From the First Half of 2024 PPA Tour Season

There was a LOT of PPA Tour pickleball played in the first half of 2024 and you may have missed some of it.

The Dink is here for you.

We're defining top plays as highlight reel plays – think ESPN SportsCenter Top 10 (many of them actually made the list). The top moments are some of the more pivotal moments of the first half of the year.

Top Plays

A great point for Ben Johns and Anna Leigh Waters against Lauren Stratman and Julian Arnold at the Masters in the first tournament of the year. They ended up winning the tournament together in mixed doubles, their first of seven thus far on the PPA Tour.

Catherine Parenteau hits an amazing ATP against Hurricane Tyra Black and Lea Jansen in the Masters. Parenteau and her partner, Anna Leigh Waters, won the match 11-3, 11-5, and eventually the tournament. They are by far the best women’s doubles team in 2024, winning gold an astounding seven times, only losing one match.

Federico Staksrud with the hustle in a singles match against Jaume Martinez Vich to win the point. This was at the PPA Desert Ridge – the second stop on the PPA Tour – where Staksrud went on to win the entire tournament. Fed has been the most consistent men’s singles player this year, winning a medal at every single tournament on the PPA Tour, with five gold medals to show for his 12 tournament stops.

James Ignatowich with his first backhanded no look flip ATP that made the SportsCenter Top 10 as the best play on the day. This was in PPA Desert Ridge while playing mixed doubles with Anna Bright against Thomas Wilson and Vivienne David. Ignatowich and Bright won silver at this tournament and have won a total of four silver medals on the year.

Gabe Tardio and Andrei Daescu take down the Johns brothers in the Round of 16 for the first time on the year in Mesa. The duo beat the Johns brothers again at the PPA Red Rock Open in the semifinals on their way to another silver medal.

To have a list of PPA top plays without Jack Sock would be criminal. This was my favorite play from him so far in 2024. In mixed doubles at the Indoor Championships, Sock played with Catherine Parenteau and hit a FOREHAND ATP from the left side - a shot I have never seen before. While Sock and Parenteau haven’t had the results they would have liked, Sock is doing very well in singles, with two medals on the year.

Robert Slutsky is a new name on tour this year, but he made quite the first impression at the Fanatics North Carolina Cup with a diving ATP against Yates Johnson in the Round of 16. It was an athletic feat for Slutsky to even get to the net cord ball, let alone hit a diving ATP winner.

Connor Garnett hustles during a singles point with Federico Staksrud for the ATP winner at the Veolia LA Open. Garnett went on to win this match in three games, 7-11, 11-9, 11-4. It was Garnett’s first gold medal on the PPA Tour in his current hometown. The speedy Garnett has four medals on tour in singles thus far.

Known for their offense, Catherine Parenteau and Anna Leigh Waters also have world class defense. This was on display at the Vizzy Atlanta Slam against Etta Wright and Meghan Dizon. Parenteau and Waters went on to win this match and won the entire tournament (again).

James Ignatowich with another backhanded no-look flip ATP against the Johnson twins. This took place at the Select Medical Orange County Cup this week in San Clemente. At this point, I think we need to name this shot - he is the only person hitting it.

Top Memorable Moments

Teen sensation Cason Campbell made a name for himself at the Mesa Arizona Cup in February. “The kid with the hat” had a coming out party in Arizona, winning all of his singles qualifiers and then finishing fifth in the main draw. 

The PPA Indoor Championships saw Thomas Wilson and Christian Alshon play together for the first time in Men’s Doubles. This happened because of a Riley Newman contract dispute, as Thomas was scheduled to play with Newman for at least the first half of 2024.

Wilson picked it up with Alshon really quickly and they steamrolled the competition, beating Tyler Loong and Connor Garnett in the finals. The duo played once more in North Carolina, finishing in a respectable 6th place.

Anna Bright and Rachel Rohrabacher won their first match over Anna Leigh Waters and Catherine Parenteau on a Monday at the PPA Austin Open for a gold medal. This marked the first time Parenteau and Waters ever lost a match and hasn’t happened since. Bright and Rohrabacher are the second best women’s team on the year.

Vivienne David and Thomas Wilson medaled in seven out of eight tournaments to start off 2024. They fought hard against Anna Bright and Ben Johns in the finals of the Veolia PPA LA Open to win it in four games. David and Wilson are tied for fourth in mixed doubles among all players with seven medals on tour this season, only behind Ben Johns, Anna Leigh Waters, and Anna Bright.

Anna Leigh Waters won her 100th Gold Medal and her 24th Triple Crown at the PPA North Carolina Cup. The female GOAT is just ripping through the competition and is only 17 years old. She is by far the best woman player in the world.

In mid 2023, Lea Jansen said she was retiring from singles. She made 2024 a comeback in singles and finally got her first win in 2024 at the PPA Veolia Houston Open. She followed that up with another win at the CIBC Texas Open for her second gold this year. In our most recent power rankings, Jansen ranked as the No. 2 women’s singles player.

JW Johnson and Dylan Frazier have four men’s doubles gold medals in 2024, second only to the Johns Brothers. They have finished 1st, 1st, 1st, and 2nd in the last four tournaments. The initial gold in that sequence was at the Red Rock Open over their good friends Gabe Tardio and Andrei Daescu, who beat Ben and Collin again. The Johns brothers have five golds and JW and Dylan have four. We will see who can finish the year with the most golds.

Tina Pisnik and Lea Jansen have paired up twice on the PPA Tour this year - earning a bronze medal in Houston and a gold medal at the PPA Selkirk Open. Pisnik has solidified herself as a top 10 player in both gender doubles and mixed doubles in 2024. Jansen now has three medals in women’s doubles this year, including this iconic win in Utah.

Anna Leigh Waters and Ben Johns have won gold in seven of the eight tournaments they played together. One of the most iconic wins for them was at the CIBC Texas Open, beating JW and Jorja Johnson on Championship Sunday on FOX. The duo continues to dominate mixed doubles at the highest level.

Hayden Patriquin and Federico Staksrud won their first ever gold medal in men’s doubles at the PPA Sacramento Open while playing together for the first time. Staksrud had been playing men’s doubles with Pablo Tellez, but they decided to break up after not winning golds in the first several tournaments. Both Patriquin and Staksrud are veterans of the game, even though Patriquin is only 19 years old.