Short answer: The PPA National Championships results are in from Cary, North Carolina. Anna Bright and Anna Leigh Waters each walked away with double gold, Ben Johns and Gabe Tardio took men’s doubles, and Hunter Johnson won men’s singles over Federico Staksrud. The biggest shock came in mixed, where siblings JW and Jorja Johnson knocked out the top seeds in the semifinals.
The 30-second version
- Where and when: Cary Tennis Park, Cary NC, August 31 – September 6, 2026.
- Anna Leigh Waters won women’s singles and women’s doubles.
- Anna Bright won women’s doubles and mixed doubles.
- Ben Johns and Gabe Tardio won men’s doubles in four games.
- Hunter Johnson beat Federico Staksrud for the men’s singles title.
- The upset: JW and Jorja Johnson beat Johns and Waters in the mixed semifinals.
- Every score below is linked to its source. Where sources disagreed, we left the number out.
The first big event of the 2026-27 pro season is done, and if you were hoping for chalk, you did not get it. Here is what actually happened in Cary — with a citation on every line, because pro results get garbled fast in the reposting.
PPA National Championships results: every final
Results below are as reported by The Kitchen’s tournament recap and independently by The Dink.
- Men’s singles: Hunter Johnson def. Federico Staksrud, 7-11, 11-3, 11-0
- Women’s singles: Anna Leigh Waters def. Kate Fahey, 11-1, 11-9 (score per The Kitchen)
- Men’s doubles: Ben Johns / Gabe Tardio def. Christian Alshon / Andrei Daescu, 11-8, 11-8, 5-11, 11-5
- Women’s doubles: Anna Leigh Waters / Anna Bright def. Tyra Black / Jorja Johnson, 11-5, 11-6, 11-3
- Mixed doubles: Hayden Patriquin / Anna Bright def. JW Johnson / Jorja Johnson, 11-9, 11-3, 11-7
The event ran August 31 through September 6 at Cary Tennis Park and was worth 2,000 ranking points, according to the PPA’s own event page. One housekeeping note: outlets described the event’s tier differently than the PPA’s page does, and the total purse was not published on that page, so we are not quoting a prize figure.
What was the biggest upset?
Mixed doubles, and it was not close to being predictable. JW and Jorja Johnson beat Ben Johns and Anna Leigh Waters 4-11, 11-9, 11-6 in the semifinals, per The Kitchen’s recap — ending the tournament for what is, by a distance, the most successful mixed partnership in the sport.
The siblings could not finish the job. Hayden Patriquin and Anna Bright took the final in three straight.
What does it mean?
Three things stood out to me watching this one:
- Anna Bright is no longer the “other” Anna. Double gold at a 2,000-point event, in two different formats, with two different partners. That is a complete week.
- The Johns-Tardio pairing is real. A new men’s doubles partnership winning the season opener over Alshon and Daescu answers the obvious question about whether Ben Johns could rebuild after splitting with his brother. He could. We go deeper in our Ben Johns player profile.
- The next generation arrived in the same week. Patriquin winning mixed and the Johnson siblings reaching a final are not fluke results anymore. The top of this sport is getting younger fast.
What does this have to do with New England?
More than you would think. The National Championships is one of the events where amateurs play on the same courts as the pros — we wrote about that angle in our preview of this year’s event, and it remains the most realistic way a New England club player ever competes at a stop like this.
If you want the structure behind all of it — how the PPA and MLP fit together now that both sit under the same parent — start with PPA Tour vs. MLP. If you would rather just find something to enter this fall, the New England tournament calendar is the place to go.
Frequently asked questions
Who won the 2026 PPA National Championships?
There were five champions: Hunter Johnson in men’s singles, Anna Leigh Waters in women’s singles, Ben Johns and Gabe Tardio in men’s doubles, Waters and Anna Bright in women’s doubles, and Hayden Patriquin and Anna Bright in mixed doubles.
Where were the National Championships held?
Cary Tennis Park in Cary, North Carolina, from August 31 through September 6, 2026.
Did Ben Johns win at the National Championships?
Yes, in men’s doubles with Gabe Tardio. He did not win mixed doubles; he and Anna Leigh Waters were beaten in the semifinals by JW and Jorja Johnson.
Who won double gold in Cary?
Two players. Anna Leigh Waters won women’s singles and women’s doubles, and Anna Bright won women’s doubles and mixed doubles. They were partners in the women’s doubles title.
Can amateurs play in the PPA National Championships?
The event includes amateur draws alongside the professional divisions, which is what makes it unusual among the tour stops. Check the PPA event page for the current registration requirements.
Written by Jason Regan, USA Pickleball ambassador and founder of Regan Family Pickleball. More tour coverage in the Pro Corner.