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Our Top 20 men's and women's pickleball players
What makes Andrei Daescu pickleball’s fiercest competitor
On the heels of the Pickleball World Championships — the biggest PPA Tour event of the season — we thought it was a good time to update our lists of the Top 20 men and women who compete in PPA and MLP events.
We’re starting with doubles (be on the lookout for our singles rankings next week), and we consulted with an anonymous pro to help us make some tough decisions on where to slot players. Check out the list below.
Also in this issue:
Why Andrei Daescu is pickleball’s fiercest competitor 🎧
CJ Klinger is a joy to watch đź“ş
The best points from TKO Atlanta ⚡️
These new Paddletek camo paddles are 🔥
How to be your own coach on the court 📢
Let’s get cookin’. 🧑‍🍳
GIVEAWAY
Veteran’s Day Paddletek camo edition paddles
We are excited to join forces with Paddletek to honor our Veterans by giving away 10 of their BRAND NEW Camo Edition Bantam series pickleball paddles! 🇺🇸
THIS IS A NEWSLETTER ONLY GIVEAWAY … so follow the steps below to enter!
1. Enter your information HERE & RECEIVE up to 500 additional bonus entries đź‘Š
2. LIKE this post & COMMENT “PADDLETEK” once you've SUBSCRIBED 🙌
*** You MUST complete steps 1 & 2 to be eligible. ***
BONUS MULTIPLIER: INVITE 5 friends to our Facebook community and ALL of your entries are DOUBLED! âś…
We will choose 10 random winners on Nov. 21!
HIGHLIGHT OF THE WEEK
CJ Klinger is now doing 360s mid-point just for fun
CJ Klinger is quickly becoming one of the most entertaining players to watch on the PPA Tour. The tall teenager can range from awkward and gangly to smooth and athletic, and no move was smoother at the Pickleball World Championships than this 360 in the middle of a point in the men’s doubles semifinal.
đź”— Check out this point on Instagram, Facebook or TikTok
PICKLEBALLERS
Inside the mind of Andrei Daescu: Pickleball’s fiercest competitor
Andrei Daescu was born to compete. From his early days in Romania as a tennis player to his relentless rise up the pickleball ranks, the 37-year-old giant has been called "the best pickleball player not named Ben Johns."
Coming fresh off a Major League Pickleball championship, Daescu joins Pickleballers this week to discuss his MLP run, what life was like growing up in Romania, his love for inspirational tweets and more.
PICKLEBALLERS DOORDASH & PROTON GIVEAWAY: Each week we’re doing a Pickleballers giveaway to celebrate the latest episode. This week we are giving away a $500 DoorDash gift card & a Proton pickleball paddle. Enter here!
VIRAL VIDEOS
The best points from The Kitchen Open Atlanta
The Kitchen Open tournaments this year in Austin and Atlanta gave us some thrilling matches and a ton of great highlights.
We recently put together a compilation of some of the best points from the championship rounds of Mixed Doubles, Women’s Doubles and Men’s (40+) Doubles at The Kitchen Open Atlanta.
THE PROS
The Kitchen’s Top 20 men’s and women’s players in the world
Every few months we are updating our ranking of the Top 20 men’s and women’s pickleball players, and this time around there were a few shakeups in the top 5 for both genders.
Because this is such a tough exercise, we set some general guidelines to help us make decisions:
Gender doubles results carried more weight than mixed doubles results (about a 70-30 split).
Ranking is based on 2025 results + vibes from our pro player consultant on who they would least like to see on their side of the draw in a tournament.
PPA Tour results carried more weight than MLP results (again about a 70-30 split) due to the smaller sample size in MLP (1 game to 11 and not as many events).
TOP MEN’S PLAYERS
1. Ben Johns (previous ranking: No. 1) – He’s coming off a vintage Ben Johns summer, winning six straight men's doubles titles with Gabe Tardio. He's also currently riding an eight-tournament winning streak in mixed doubles with Anna Leigh Waters.
2. Hayden Patriquin (previous ranking: No. 5) – His switch to playing the left side with Staksrud in men’s doubles helped them get over the hump to win their first men's doubles gold of the season at the Pickleball World Championships.
3. Andrei Daescu (previous ranking: No. 3) – Daescu's performance at the Major League Pickleball Finals in August is burned into our minds. He turned into Superman and led the Columbus Sliders to the title -- it was one of the most impressive performances we've ever seen in MLP.
TOP WOMEN’S PLAYERS
1. Anna Leigh Waters (previous ranking: No. 1) — She’s won a triple crown in her last three PPA Tour events and led the New Jersey 5s to another runner-up finish in MLP.
2. Anna Bright (previous ranking: No. 2) — You could make an argument for a couple different players here, but Bright has made it to 10 women’s doubles finals this season. That’s a bunch.
3. Jorja Johnson (previous ranking: No. 3) — She has three silvers and a gold medal in women's doubles since August. Bright's overall body of work in 2025 is slightly better in our opinion, but it's very close.
INSTRUCTIONAL
How to effectively coach yourself in pickleball
Pickleball challenges us. This is one of its great attractions.
Every time we play, we are faced with adversity and puzzles to solve. And we do our best to work through them. But as you interact with pickleball and do your best to work through each game, you should strive to be as constructive as possible.
This approach will provide you with a better experience as well as improved performance.
As you work through the challenges that pickleball presents, speak to yourself in the same voice that you would expect from a coach. Imagine a coach who said to you, “What are you doing? Are you dumb or something?”
Our guess is that you would no longer be working with that coach. It is equally unacceptable for you – as your own coach – to use that tone. Or to use any words that you would not accept from another person as your coach.
We should expect more understanding from ourselves. We know the demons that lurk inside our minds. We know the preoccupations in our life outside the pickleball court. We know that we are doing our best.
As you coach yourself, remember these points:
Your student is not perfect.
Use language that will motivate and inspire your student (you).
Whatever else you do, avoid tearing your student down.
QUICK HITS
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