The ‘Super Bowl of Pickleball’ Looks to Grow the Sport
A world championship in Texas is flush with cash and star players as the Professional Pickleball Association tries to turn amateur interest into long-term fandom.
Four men are seen on a small pickleball court. There is a small crowd on either side of the court.
In hopes of securing the top players, pickleball pros like Ben Johns, are paid millions by pro associations to compete in events like the Pickleball World Championships.
Anna Leigh Waters, a 17-year-old from Delray Beach, Fla., is the world’s top-ranked pickleball player and is widely considered to be the face of America’s fastest-growing sport. But from where she stands, she is still relatively unknown, even among a majority of the racket sport’s fans.
“Pickleball has gotten a lot bigger, and there are millions of people playing it,” Ms. Waters said last week. “They go to a local park and play, but most of them have no idea there’s a professional side of it.”
This week, Ms. Waters is at Brookhaven Country Club in Farmers Branch, a suburb of Dallas, to compete in the Pickleball World Championships, one of the sport’s largest tournaments in the world. She is trying to defend her multiple titles — Ms. Waters is ranked No. 1 in women’s singles, doubles and mixed doubles in the Pro Tour of Pickleball, according to the Professional Pickleball Association — in a competition that includes all of the game’s marquee stars, including the top-ranked male players, Federico Staksrud and Ben Johns.
