Has Ben Johns Made the PPA Tour Boring? Inside His Ruthless 2025 Reign
Ben Johns’ iron grip on pickleball – 123 PPA titles, 21 Triple Crowns, and a mind-boggling 108-match win streak – had critics crying “boring.” But 2025 flipped the script. New partnerships, including a split from brother Collin after 31 wins, shook up the predictable tour dynamic. Lower-ranked players now snag unexpected victories, and fresh faces make deep runs. Though Johns remains the GOAT, his temporary step back from singles has injected serious drama into the sport’s competitive landscape.
While many athletes dream of dominating their sport, Ben Johns has turned that dream into a ruthless reality on the PPA Tour. With 123 PPA titles, 21 Triple Crowns, and an absurd 108-match winning streak in singles, Johns hasn’t just dominated pickleball – he’s owned it. Every tournament he enters becomes a question of “who’ll get second place?” The man hasn’t missed a medal in 59 straight tournaments. His impressive degree in engineering from the University of Maryland hasn’t stopped him from mastering the courts.
That’s not dominance. That’s just showing off.
When you win so much that second place becomes the real championship, you’re not competing – you’re flexing.
But here’s where it gets interesting. Early 2025 brought changes. Johns started experimenting with new doubles partners, moving away from his brother Collin, with whom he’d racked up 31 wins. He’s also been mysteriously absent from singles play. Maybe he got bored of winning. Or maybe he’s giving everyone else a chance to feel what victory tastes like. His partnership with Andrei Daescu has proven especially fruitful, leading to gold at the Cape Coral Open. His graphite paddle choice has become a standard for players seeking ultimate control and precision.
The thing is, Johns’ temporary step back from singles has actually made the tour more unpredictable. Lower-ranked players are scoring upsets. New faces are making deep runs. The field is wide open, and suddenly nobody knows who’s going to win.
Well, except in women’s divisions, where Anna Leigh Waters is doing her best Ben Johns impression.
Speaking of Waters, she and Johns formed pickleball’s most unstoppable mixed doubles pair, winning 16 straight titles between March 2023 and February 2024. That’s what happens when you put the two most dominant players in history on the same side of the court. Sorry, everyone else.
Has Johns made pickleball boring? Not exactly. His ruthless efficiency might have made tournaments predictable in the past, but his recent shifts have ironically injected more excitement into the sport.
He’s still the greatest of all time – that’s not up for debate. But 2025’s competitive landscape proves that sometimes the most interesting stories come when the king temporarily leaves his throne.
The tour isn’t boring. It’s evolving. And Johns, whether dominating or experimenting, remains right at the center of it all.
