Pickleball in 2026: three events decided, two seasons running, and Nationals about to start.

Status on 26 October 2026

Who runs what

USA Pickleball is the national governing body; it runs the National Championships and sanctions the APP Tour. The PPA Tour and Major League Pickleball (MLP) sit under one parent company and play under the UPA-A, which calls itself a governing body for professional play. The two sides describe this differently: at a 2025 industry panel reported by The Dink, USA Pickleball's representative said it is the only national governing body, while the UPA-A's side said it is responsible only for professional play. Both accounts are set out on pickleball bodies and tours.

Two naming traps. The PPA Tour in pickleball is not the Professional Padel Association, padel's men's players' association. And the PPA Tour's "Pickleball National Championships", which opened its 2026-27 season, is a different event from USA Pickleball's National Championships in San Diego.

US Open Pickleball Championships 2026: finished

USA Pickleball's tournament page lists the US Open for 11 to 18 April 2026 at the USOP National Pickleball Center in Naples, Florida, marks the 2026 edition as a decade of the event, and says taking part earns points toward eligibility for USA Pickleball's Nationals. The Dink, a pickleball news site, reported that pro play ran from 14 to 18 April with five pro divisions (women's and men's singles, and women's, men's and mixed doubles); it named no sanctioning tour for the pro events.

The one pro final found. The Naples Press reported that Anna Leigh Waters and Jay Devilliers beat Casey Diamond and Sofia Sewing in the mixed pro doubles final on Saturday 18 April 2026, in a third-set tie-breaker. That is a single press report, with the names as it printed them, so the result is unconfirmed. The champions of the other four pro divisions were not found.

The same report quotes the event's marketing director claiming more than 3,800 players, more than 6,000 matches, more than 60,000 spectators and 280 medal divisions, and calling it the 10th annual event. Those are the organiser's claims.

PPA Finals 2026: finished, closing the 2025-26 PPA season

The PPA Tour now splits its season across two calendar years. The PPA Finals, its tour championship, ran from 4 to 10 May 2026 in San Clemente, California, and ended the 2025-26 season; MLP's season followed. The finals were on Sunday 10 May 2026. Results and figures from the PPA Tour's recap of 13 May 2026, with seeds in brackets:

The PPA says these were Haworth's seventh title of the season, Fahey's third, Johns and Tardio's 16th as a pair and Waters and Johns's 15th as a pair, all within the 2025-26 season, and that Tardio won all ten men's doubles events of 2026.

2026-27 PPA Tour season: in progress

The new season opened with the PPA's Pickleball National Championships from 31 August 2026, according to The Kitchen, a pickleball news site; PPA pages, seen in a search summary, list it as 31 August to 6 September, which is unconfirmed. Pickleball.com, a UPA-affiliated outlet, reported on 1 July 2026 that the Arizona Open, 14 to 20 September 2026 at the Arizona Athletic Grounds, took the place of Cincinnati, which moved to 12 to 18 April 2027, and that the Chicago event, 5 to 11 October 2026, was upgraded to Cup status. Results from this season were not collected, and no season or ranking leader is given.

Major League Pickleball 2026: finished

MLP is a team competition. The Dink reported on 30 August 2026 that the New Jersey 5s won the 2026 title, beating the St. Louis Shock 2-0 in matches in the final, with each match decided by a DreamBreaker, 22-20 and 21-9. It was the 5s' first title after losing the 2024 and 2025 finals, to the Dallas Flash and the Columbus Sliders. The Dink named Federico Staksrud Finals MVP, and its report names Anna Leigh Waters, Jorja Johnson, Will Howells and Noe Khlif among the players. A search summary of pickleball.com's August 2026 round-up also has the 5s beating the Shock in a DreamBreaker.

When the finals were played, two versions. A search summary of The Dink's viewing guide gives 28 to 30 August 2026 at Wollman Rink, New York, with the New Jersey 5s, the Brooklyn Pickleball Team, the St. Louis Shock and the Dallas Flash. Another listing gives 21 to 23 August.

APP Tour 2026: in progress

The APP Tour is sanctioned by USA Pickleball. A search summary of an APP page lists an APP Arizona Open in Mesa from 12 to 15 November 2026, with dates the APP calls subject to change. The season ends at the APP Tour Championships, 3 to 6 December 2026, at The Fort in Fort Lauderdale, which the APP calls its global headquarters. The APP says the Championships also host AARP Champions and AARP Masters divisions, the Humana Cup and USA Pickleball Golden Ticket play. APP results so far in 2026 were not collected, and no season winner is given.

USA Pickleball National Championships 2026: upcoming

USA Pickleball's Nationals run from 31 October to 8 November 2026 at the Barnes Tennis Center in San Diego, the second year in a row there, per the event's own site, which has a Professionals division page. They start five days after this page's research date, so there are no results. Under the 2026 USA Pickleball Official Rulebook, provisional rally scoring (Rule 15.C.2) may not be used at the 2026 National Championships.

No prize money is given on this page.