What’s the Score?
Daytona Beach, USA – The 2026 pickleball calendar officially opens this week with the Florida Dairy Farmers Daytona Beach Open at Pictona in Holly Hill. With over 1,200 players registered, the tournament marks the beginning of a new campaign filled with roster shakeups and high stakes. The headline story is the absence of world number one Anna Leigh Waters from the singles draw—sealing her 2025 singles record at a perfect 59-0—and her debut partnership with Jorja Johnson in women’s doubles. With 1,000 ranking points on the line, the event promises to set the tone for the year ahead.
Hit it deeper!
The Daytona Beach Open is acting as the testing ground for several intriguing new storylines. While Anna Leigh Waters is usually a triple-crown threat, she is scaling back her singles play this week. This decision leaves the door wide open in the women’s singles bracket, where Kaitlyn Christian enters as the top seed, followed closely by Lea Jansen and Catherine Parenteau, the latter of whom is looking for her first singles gold since August 2023.
On the men’s side, Federico Staksrud returns to the court as the world number one and defending champion. With key rivals like Jack Sock and Hunter Johnson absent, Staksrud is the clear favourite, though a potential quarterfinal clash between Connor Garnett and Gabe Joseph looms as a highlight.
The doubles brackets are where the off-season shuffling is most evident. In women’s doubles, the union of Anna Leigh Waters and Jorja Johnson as the top seed is a formidable development that the rest of the tour will have to reckon with. Additionally, Catherine Parenteau and Tyra Black are teaming up for the first time as the number two seed.
Mixed doubles will see the Johnson siblings, Jorja and JW, competing as the top seeds. The bracket is notably missing the standard-bearing team of Ben Johns and Anna Leigh Waters, creating a vacuum that pairs like Christian Alshon and Tyra Black will be eager to fill as they seek their first mixed gold.
In men’s doubles, the “Dallas Flash” connection comes alive as JW Johnson and Augie Ge partner for their first Carvana PPA tour event together. They will have to contend with the top-seeded pair of Andrei Daescu and Gabriel Tardio, who proved their mettle with two wins in 2024. There is also international intrigue with “Team Europe,” featuring Germany’s Tom Protzek and France’s Jay Devilliers, looking to make a run.
The World Pickleball Verdict
The Daytona Beach Open is more than just a season opener; it is a strategic reveal of the year’s potential power dynamics. Anna Leigh Waters’ decision to skip singles might signal a load-management strategy to preserve her dominance in doubles, or perhaps a desire to keep her perfect record intact.
Meanwhile, the absence of Ben Johns in the mixed draw allows for a “changing of the guard” narrative, even if temporary. The formation of new teams like Johnson/Ge and Waters/Johnson suggests that 2025 will be defined by super-teams trying to consolidate power. If the new pairings gel quickly, the rest of the field could be playing catch-up for months.
Chris Beaumont
Founder and Editor-in-ChiefChris Beaumont is the founder and Editor-in-Chief of World Pickleball Magazine. Chris follows the global game closely, reporting on the latest news, developments, stories and tournaments from all five continents. He also hosts the World Pickleball Podcast, interviewing people at…
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