PPA Tour 2026 Newport Beach Open – 5 Takeaways – Greatness is Consistency
Weâre already into March and the results are not pro forma in the manner we have come to expect on the PPA Tour. Anna Leigh and Ben are still winning at an unimaginable clip, but there is a little more parity outside of those #1 doubles teams than we would have expected this early in the year. The tour gets going again in Texas right away so no time to breathe. Letâs go.
(1) Greatness is Consistency – This isnât entirely true, but one of the biggest separators of greatness is consistency. Itâs one thing to be great sometimes. Itâs entirely another thing to be great all the time.
Hayden and Anna throttled the best there has ever been to play the game in Mesa a couple of weeks ago, and the big question on everyoneâs mind was what Ben and Anna Leigh would do to counter that matchup the next time they saw them. The draw in Newport was set up for another rematch, but it wasnât the new champs, or the old (barely) rivals, the Johnsonâs, in the finals.
Instead, it was Eric Oncins and Tina Pisnik, the former Texas Ranchers teammates, who took down Hayden and Anna in the quarterfinals en route to a Championship Sunday appearance. Beyond how impressive it was for them to beat the #2 and #3 seeds, the loss for Hayden and Anna very obviously highlights the consistency of greatness that ALW and Ben have exhibited over the years. It is hard to win every tournament, much less make the finals.
Without fail, the best players in any sport are able to be great consistently. They somehow find a way, day in and day out, week in and week out, to bring a level that is almost always as good as or better than their peers. It is a trait unique to the best in class, and finding a way to bring a high enough level every time out is a massive part of the battle for those trying to climb the mountain.
Itâs one tournament. One match. One loss. It likely means little in the grand scheme.
Still, it sure as hell shows how hard it is to win every single time you step on the court.
(2) Sound the Johnson Alarm? – Another tournament and another below-expected performance for the Johnson siblings, both as a duo and individually. It is too early to ring the alarm bell, but we are on alert for more signs that something might be wrong.
Still swirling from the shocking MLP draft madness, Jorja and JW did not have a weekend worth remembering. JW Johnson and CJ Klinger suffered what had to be a more-than-disappointing loss to Len Yang and Collin Johns (big props to Collin). For a team that rarely suffers a bad loss or shows a low floor, it was not a good outing, especially after getting beaten soundly by Hayden and Christian in Mesa. CJ did pull out of the Mesa bronze match with an injury, so maybe something else is going on there.
Jorja and JW seemed to get a break with the Hayden and Anna loss, only to lose quite handily themselves to Eric and Tina in the mixed semifinals. That momentum carried through to the womenâs semifinal, where Jorja and Tyra lost in straight games to Parris Todd and Rachel Rohrabacher.
You do have to wonder, for both Johnson siblings, whether there is something to the idea that they arenât evolving as players at the same rate as their peers at the top of the game. Their best skill as a pair has always been their hands and their punishing counters. Dink aggression is still an ongoing work in progress for JW, just as dink consistency has been for Jorja.
While Jorjaâs consistency on the right has improved immensely over the past two years, she doesnât do a lot from that side compared to someone like Rachel Rohrabacher, who has a lot of variety and aggression from the right side with her forehand.
We always try to caution against reacting too heavily to an event or two, but these feel like legitimate questions to keep an eye on as the year develops. Things change fast in pickleball, and if youâre not keeping up, youâre just falling behind.
(3) Collinâs Comeback – Collin Johns made a menâs doubles semifinal in 2026 without brother Ben. He did it with Len Yang, who was playing his second PPA event as a signed player.
After almost failing to get out of the round of 64 against a pair of qualifiers (10â12, 12â10, 12â10), Johns and Yang worked their way through the draw and beat the aforementioned Klinger and Johnson in three games in the quarterfinal. Amazing how a tournament can go from disastrous to exceptional.
The quarterfinal was an old-school match in the way Collin Johns would want it to be played, but it was impressive to see he and Yang get it done against one of the PPAâs most consistent pairs over the past year. It is worth noting that sometimes these newer players can have early success before the rest of the tour familiarizes itself with their game, but that doesnât matter right now. A semifinal is a semifinal, and Collin Johns doing it in 2026 is a testament to his ability, and also to a certain aspect of how important the old-school game remains in menâs doubles.
As an aside, shouldnât Collin be banned permanently from attempting to full-bag his opponents as he did in frustration against Christian Alshon in their semifinal match? Does he really get to be a giant baby about body-bagging as the sport evolved and still get to go full bag on opponents?
This is a rule that needs to be implemented. Call it the Collin and have the ban only apply to Collin.
(4) Parris and Rachel Take Center Stage – It was an unexpected takedown of the #2 seed, Jorja Johnson and Tyra Black, as Todd and Rohrabacher overpowered a team that has been so difficult for most opponents to overpower.
It had to be eye-opening for Rachel Rohrabacher to have such success with Parris Todd after a tough start to the year with the less-powerful Catherine Parenteau. Parris and Rachel played mostly straight up, and it worked about as well as they could have asked. Parris has been the odd player out (similar to Eric Oncins) in the gender-doubles musical chairs among the top eight players, and weâll have to see how long that remains the case.
We highlighted Parenteauâs struggles to start off 2026, and it will be hard for Rohrabacher to stick with that partnership with Parris out there without a top-tier partner.
(5) Singles Delight – Say what you want about what pro pickleball singles is in 2026 but there are entertaining matches every tournament among the best in the game. For those who enjoy the current style, the PPAâs top players are giving fans their moneyâs worth.
In womenâs singles, the gap between Anna Leigh and the rest of the field is as wide as ever. But the difference between #2 and #7 or #8 might be as close as it has ever been.
Lea Jansen won two very close matches against #2 Kate Fahey and #4 Brooke Buckner. #8 Genie Bouchard made it to Sunday in Mesa. Parris Todd has taken a hiatus after a title win in Minnesota.
There are simply more good players in womenâs singles these days, and it is leading to some fun matches.
But when is someone going to catch up to ALW?
Also, not to condone Fedâs complaining, but does Hunter really need to be grunting like Matt Manasse every time he is micâd up for some kind of celebrity event? Letâs not create a culture of grunting in pickleball singles too. It is so unnecessary.
Agree or disagree? Let us know in the comments or email us at nmlpickleball@gmail.com! You can also follow us on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook @nmlpickleball
