USA Pickleball Nationals 2023 – Fantasy Draft Preview

Nationals has already started with the amateurs and split pro age brackets. It’s a shame that none of the split pro matches were streamed. That stuff is fun to watch and it seems if you are going to put those events on, you should be trying to get that content out to the masses in some capacity. It also sounds like there are a lot of very unhappy amateur tournament participants to start the week, which isn’t all that surprising considering the incredibly massive number of people registered to play.

The center court streaming looks like it is going to be on the new Pickleball TV and Tennis Channel – here is the link to Pickleball TV that you should be able to watch on your computer. Remember, the schedule is very different for the pro events. The tournament starts today (Wednesday) and one round from all 5 pro draws will be played each day until the finals on Sunday.

We are all tied up going into the final two months of the year for fantasy. Gritty won the toss and elected to pick first. 

(1) Anna Leigh Waters / Ben Johns (Gritty) 

(2) Anna Leigh Waters / Catherine Parenteau (Slim) 

(3) Anna Leigh Waters (Slim) 

(4) Ben Johns / Collin Johns (Gritty) 

(5) Ben Johns (Gritty) 

Gritty – It is hard to see anyone out there that’s going to take down Anna Leigh and Ben in mixed. They are both going to be very focused at the biggest event of the year I expect. Ben has more competition than Anna Leigh for his gold medals but, again, I have to like a focused Ben coming into Nationals where he is going to want to show out at his best. 

Slim – Anna Leigh is still yet to lose in women’s doubles this year, and in this below average women’s doubles field this week, it is tough to see that happening. Anna Leigh also is a pretty safe bet in singles.

(6) JW Johnson / Dylan Frazier (Slim) 

(7) Catherine Parenteau (Slim) 

(8) Anna Bright / Jade Kawamoto (Gritty) 

(9) Christian Alshon / Riley Newman (Gritty) 

(10) Parris Todd / Riley Newman (Slim) 

(11) Anna Bright / James Ignatowich (Slim) 

Gritty – Anna Bright and Jade Kawamoto are the best of the rest in this surprisingly soft women’s doubles field. There’s a number of key players missing from this field like Jackie Kawamoto, Lea Jansen and Lucy Kovalova, and then you have other less ideal partnerships in this draw. Big opportunity for Bright/Kawamoto, who finally get to be on the same side of the net together. Raise your hand if you’re excited for Alshon/Newman to play a tour event after their success at MLP. Okay, everyone’s hand is raised.

Slim – The question for JW and Dylan is whether they can really start closing the gap on the Johns brothers. They seem to have extended the gap over the rest of the field this year with the Riley/Matt breakup. Catherine Parenteau has been the second best women’s singles player this year.

(12) Tyson McGuffin (Gritty) 

(13) Connor Garnett (Gritty) 

(14) Lacy Schneemann / Vivienne David (Slim) 

(15) Megan Fudge (Slim) 

(16) Jorja Johnson / JW Johnson (Gritty) 

(17) Federico Staksrud / Pablo Tellez (Gritty) 

Gritty – We did this draft without seeing any draws but these picks look even better with Tyson as the #2 seed and Garnett as the #3 seed, avoiding Ben’s side of the bracket. Jorja/JW are not a consistent pair but they might be the only mixed team that has gold medal upside without needing another team to beat ALW/Ben. Federico/Pablo have been such a consistent team this year. An argument could be made for Tyson/Andrei in this spot, but I’ll take the tried and tested team to hopefully breakthrough. 

Slim – Lacy Scheeman and Vivienne David fit well together, and in a women’s doubles field missing some top players, and with some odd partnerships, I would expect to see them on the podium. Megan Fudge has really upped her singles game of late on the APP tour so it will be interesting to see if that can translate against the PPA players.

(18) Tyson McGuffin / Catherine Parenteau (Slim) 

(19) Callie Smith / Allyce Jones (Slim) 

(20) Salome Devidze (Gritty) 

(21) Jessie Irvine / Parris Todd (Gritty) 

(22) Christian Alshon (Slim) 

(23) Andrei Daescu / Tyson McGuffin (Slim) 

Gritty – Salome Devidze continues to be very consistent as a women’s pro singles player. The draw sets up nicely for her to have a bronze medal run, which is as much as I could have hoped for. Jessie/Parris are not the best fitting team but they shouldn’t be a free win for anyone either. Maybe they can surprise? 

Slim – Tyson McGuffin and Catherine Parenteau, may not be the most exciting team, but you know what you are going to get and they should be in contention for a podium. Callie Smith and Allyce Jones have been disappointing in in MLP, but they are one of the veteran teams this weekend. Chrisitan Alshon has not been getting singles results of late, but I am hoping for a post MLP MVP bump. Andrei and Tyson, again may not be flashy, but this team will be a very tough out.

(24) Dominique Schaefer (Gritty) 

(25) Hurricane Tyra Black / Christian Alshon (Gritty) 

(26) Hunter Johnson (Slim) 

(27) Thomas Wilson / Julian Arnold (Slim) 

(28) Mary Brascia / Maggie Brascia (Gritty) 

(29) Judit Castillo (Gritty) 

(30) Quang Duong (Gritty) 

Gritty – Dominique Schaefer has surely been putting in the work and grinding her game since the last time she played a tournament. Let’s see if all that hard work on the court translates to another PPA medal. Is the post-MLP championship bump a real thing? If Tyra/Christian somehow find their way to a podium, I’m calling it a thing. It leaves David/Wilson undrafted, which could be foolhardy.

The Brascia’s normally lack some upside as a pair but I decided to go with them on the chance their familiarity allows them to sneak through this soft draw. They are a sneaky good doubles team. I was very close to drafting Fudge/Barr or Valdes/Rohrabacher – Glozman/Stratman were in the running as well. Judit Castillo gets the nod for my final pick leaving Mary Brascia and Jorja Johnson on the board.

Slim – Hunter Johnson remains a talented singles player even if he hasn’t been playing as much singles of late. Quang Duong has gotten some tough PPA singles draws, but he is both extremely talented and continuing to improve, so he is great value with the last pick. JW Johnson is left on the board, which actually was just an oversight on my part.

Agree or disagree? Let us know in the comments below or email us at nmlpickleball@gmail.com. Follow us on Twitter, Instagram, Threads and Facebook. Also, listen and subscribe to our podcast on Apple, Spotify and YouTube!

36 thoughts on “USA Pickleball Nationals 2023 – Fantasy Draft Preview

  • November 8, 2023 at 8:22 am
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    “It also sounds like there are a lot of very unhappy amateur tournament participants to start the week ….”

    Unhappy why? Second class treatment from the PPA?

    Reply
    • November 8, 2023 at 11:31 am
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      Old: facebook posts are complaining (what else is new). Says the large brackets take a long time to complete – 12 hour days, porta-potties are not well-maintained (cleanliness, supplies), water station is not well-maintained (run-out), different stories on the shuttle wait. Some even complained about the promo material — no 2023 Nationals identification on them. The space between courts is narrow so balls on court (nothing new here for PPA venues).

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      • November 8, 2023 at 12:54 pm
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        Thanks waggish, interesting to hear. Isn’t this a new venue? Courts aren’t individually fenced? If it is a new venue, sounds like lousy planning. Balls rolling on the court is moronic — this is supposed to be a national tournament. Go to St. George or Brigham City.

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    • November 11, 2023 at 12:53 pm
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      Sounds like long waits, limited bathrooms etc. PPA amateur experience amped up due to all the chaos of Nationals

      Reply
  • November 8, 2023 at 3:13 pm
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    Enjoying hearing Scott Crandall and Steve Dawson in the booth. Maybe partly different voices, but I like how they calmly breakdown the play. Hope we get more of them.

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    • November 8, 2023 at 4:57 pm
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      OLD: Steve is a great analyst. I listen to him sometimes run down the play when watching Callan on court. Zane talked about the feel at the new venue during MLP on the latest PicklePod. He said a lot was still under construction as late as last week-end during MLP.

      Reply
    • November 9, 2023 at 5:59 pm
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      Any news about Fed getting assaulted? Apparently all the post are getting deleted.

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      • November 9, 2023 at 6:39 pm
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        That’s what Fed’s friend and partner claims, waiting for something approximating a less-than-wildly-biased source

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        • November 10, 2023 at 8:20 am
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          In the meantime, what have you guys heard? Internet searches coming up with nothing. Assaulted how, where, when?

          Where have NML guys gone? Back to day jobs?

          Reply
          • November 11, 2023 at 12:57 pm
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            We are here and are always working on day jobs. We are treading carefully with this one as there are allegations of physical assault. These are not situations we want to be jumping to assumptions with

      • November 11, 2023 at 12:56 pm
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        Honestly, we are treading carefully when we don’t have all the info, which we don’t. Outlets shouldn’t be posting stories just to get them up if they’re not ready to stand by it

        Reply
  • November 8, 2023 at 4:39 pm
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    Matt Manasse is in the broadcast booth?? Is that the guy who drafted himself onto an MLP team? What was his MLP record?

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    • November 11, 2023 at 12:54 pm
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      It is hi . He didn’t go winless we don’t believe

      Reply
  • November 8, 2023 at 5:18 pm
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    Any update on Sarah Ansboury? She could be heard in agony laying on the court.

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  • November 11, 2023 at 11:17 am
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    what an absolute disaster this nationals is for people that WANT to consume pro pickleball content. one court on youtube that ended Friday. no rewind or play on demand on Amazon, which was impossible to find anyway until yesterday. can’t find a stream anywhere else. And I am a hardcore fan that wants to watch and is searching for ways to watch. no easy way to get brackets or scores. supposedly there was fight between 2 pro players yet there is no news, no video and only anecdotal evidence it even happened.

    Somehow TPTP decided to hand out 3 year guaranteed million dollar contracts to people that will be less than average pro players in a years time. With fans of the sport completely left behind.

    praying that one day the ppa will break 10k live viewers GLOBALLY.

    Reply
    • November 11, 2023 at 12:58 pm
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      The watching is far from ideal. Pickleball TV very hard to find on Amazon and can’t watch things back is very tough. Still think the no YouTube is not ideal

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    • November 11, 2023 at 1:47 pm
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      It has been easy enough to go to pickleballtv dot com to watch the center court stream. However, I have two issues with the PBTV stream. First, I am only able to watch either a tiny window or full screen. I would like an option in between. Second, the inability to rewind to see something I missed is annoying. I’m accustomed to YouTube.

      Reply
    • November 11, 2023 at 6:28 pm
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      staksrud and koller, is that the rumor? some of us eschew social media, so don’t even get the uncorroborated stuff.

      usap commentators haven’t mentioned it? unclear if ppa is providing the coverage, or usap, or a weak combo. when ansboury went down, so did the mics. weak.

      Reply
      • November 12, 2023 at 6:07 pm
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        It is online for pickleball.com and the dink have reported an altercation of some kind

        Reply
  • November 11, 2023 at 1:53 pm
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    It seems Jorja Johnson has plateaued this year. She has a lot of talent, but she makes way too many errors. At times, she looked very capable of beating AL in their singles match, but Jorja sprayed the ball around too much and let AL slip away with the win. In the mixed match between Jorja/JW and Anna/James, Jorja was an error machine, even dinking a bunch of balls into the net. She needs to clean that stuff up if she wants to move up to the next level.

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    • November 12, 2023 at 5:59 pm
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      i think a lot of folks jumped the gun here. no elite racquet sports background. wonder if mama is going to let james do some “exploring”.

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      • November 12, 2023 at 6:09 pm
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        They just got a bronze medal together at the biggest tournament of the year. Jorja is a good partner for the mixed player JW is as a mixed player

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    • November 12, 2023 at 6:07 pm
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      This seems fair currently. She has to find a way to cut out some of the unforced errors

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    • November 13, 2023 at 2:49 pm
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      Is Jorja even 17 years old yet?
      Inconsistency is the norm at that age. ALW makes it look easy, but it’s very much not easy to be so good and so consistent at that young age.

      I’m sure you remember, she and JW are the only team to beat Ben/ALW.

      Reply
  • November 11, 2023 at 3:02 pm
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    AL and CP are not just great players. They also have great chemistry. Playing together in women’s doubles, they are a machine. They were down 9-4 in the first game vs David/Schneemann, but then they flipped a switch and won 30 of the last 34 points. AL gets a lot of praise for her power, but she is so good at defense and dinking. As always, CP is a wall. Opponents just can’t get anything past them.

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    • November 12, 2023 at 11:08 am
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      I don’t know how anyone is going to beat AL/CP in women’s doubles. They are dominant. They occasionally get pushed in a game, but their opponents just can’t play good enough for long enough to beat them in a best of three or five match. Once AL and CP get into a groove, they are not losing.

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      • November 12, 2023 at 6:08 pm
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        No one looks close currently. Jade and Anna even lost to the Brascia sisters

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      • November 14, 2023 at 9:55 am
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        all you have to do is flip AB for CP and you get the same result. in my mind even more dominant. nobody is beating AB and ALW on the ppa tour in 2023.

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    • November 12, 2023 at 6:07 pm
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      They are a complete machine. It’s not fair currently

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  • November 12, 2023 at 2:21 pm
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    The Sunday doubles matches were snoozers, but the singles matches were very good. The women’s singles match was fantastic. AL refused to lose, fighting off four match points with great shots.

    Reply
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