NML Pickleball Player Rankings 3.0 – Mixed Doubles

Yesterday we unveiled our singles 3.0 player rankings. Today, it is mixed doubles. While there will be some overlap with the gender doubles rankings, there are some notable differences, which is why we felt it was needed to separate the rankings still. How much will these change by the time the 4.0 rankings come out? Only one way to find out.

Women’s Mixed Rankings

1. Anna Leigh Waters

2. Jessie Irvine

3. Catherine Parenteau

4. Lucy Kovalova

5. Callie Smith

6. Simone Jardim

7. Lindsey Newman

8. Lauren Stratman

9. Andrea Koop

10. Susannah Barr

Almost Made the Cut: Vivienne David, Lea Jansen, Leigh Waters, Allyce Jones, Jorja Johnson, Jade Kawamoto, Jackie Kawamoto, Anna Bright, Parris Todd

Anna Leigh has been pretty dominant this year. She did miss the podium altogether when she played with Dekel Bar in Austin and with Ben in Atlanta, but other than that, she has been nothing but golden in mixed doubles this year. Her win with JW at the Orange County Cup proved she can win in mixed, without Ben.

Jessie Irvine probably has the best argument to supplant Anna Leigh with the number one ranking. She seems to elevate her partners more than any other female player in mixed. Irvine has made the podium on the PPA tour and at the US Open this year, with Jay Devilliers, Tyler Loong and Julian Arnold.

It was very close between the 3 and 4 spots with Catherine Parenteau and Lucy Kovolova, and you could argue that those two could be ranked either way. They are both players who have been getting results in mixed for a while now, and after slow starts, by their standards, to the year, they finished the first half of the year strong.

Callie Smith lacks the consistency of the players above her, probably due to her more aggressive style in mixed, but when she is firing on all cylinders, she is scary for anyone, with her elite hands and power. Simone Jardim has proven that she can still compete at the very highest of levels of mixed, as she showed taking gold at the US Open with Ben Johns. Her and JW Johnson have also been dominant in some of the bigger APP tournaments, and they also took a bronze at the Atlanta PPA. Some perplexing days with Dylan Frazier prevent her from being higher on this list.

Lindsey Newman was probably the hardest player on this list to rank, as we almost never see her playing without her brother Riley, and she plays so well with him, but it is fair, to probably at least question what her results would look like without him? Lauren Stratman’s strong early results with with Tyson McGuffin including a silver at PPA Foot Solutions Arizona Grand Slam earned her the number 8 spot.

Andrea Koop is a podium constant on the APP tour though her failure to make the podium with Ben Johns in at the Austin PPA, is perplexing though. The #10 spot probably could have gone to any number of ladies but we decided to go with Susannah Barr who has shown she can make podiums in mixed with partners who we don’t often see on mixed podiums.

We continue to be baffled by some of Vivienne David’s partner choices. We feel like she should be a top 10 mixed player. It also would not be surprising to see Jorja Johnson crack the top 10 next time and perhaps she should have this time.

Men’s Mixed Rankings

1. Ben Johns

2. Riley Newman

3. JW Johnson

4. Matt Wright

5. Jay Devilliers

6. Tyson McGuffin

7. AJ Koller

8. Dylan Frazier

9. Zane Navratil

10. Dekel Bar

Almost Made the Cut: Tyler Loong, Andrei Daescu, Julian Arnold, DJ Young

Ben Johns has had a couple hiccups this year but when motivated he has still proven to be the most dominant force out there in mixed doubles. Riley Newman though, after a bit of a slow start to the year, finished the first half of the year on insane tear, showing that the difference between him and Ben is not as wide as many of us may have believed.

JW Johnson has shown that when he partners with players like Anna Leigh Waters and Simone Jardim, he is right there with the best in the game. To reach Ben and Riley ‘s level in mixed though, we feel like he needs to find a way to become even more assertive in mixed – an addition of some kind of backhand roll off the bounce seems like the next progression for his weapons. Both Ben and Riley seem to have almost a gravitational force on a game.

Matt Wright had a bit of slow start to the year in mixed, but is now is right back where he always is, making mixed doubles finals. We tend to lean to Jessie Irvine being the stronger half of the Jessie Irvine/Jay Devilliers partnership, but you can’t argue with the results, which have Jay Devilliers checking in at number five.

Tyson McGuffin, as funny as it may sound, may be a little underrated in mixed doubles, where he has shown for years now that he can get results.

AJ Koller has shown he can make PPA podiums in mixed which not many players can claim but a lack of consistency as well as big wins prevents him ranking any higher. Dylan Frazier is maddeningly inconsistent in mixed, but had seemed to be bringing a more consistent level lately, prior to a disappointing day at Beer City.

Zane Navratil remains the toughest evaluation in these rankings as we only see him with the spin serve at APP tournaments, and it is a huge weapon in mixed, as it is in singles. Dekel Bar continues to confound us in mixed, as he seldom seems to be able to put it together for a full day, but his results are strong enough to earn him the 10th spot. Bar’s run with Meg Charity at Beer City solidified his spot in the top 10.

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