The primary spherical of the Main League Pickleball (MLP) playoffs noticed the highest eight seeds advance to the quarterfinals in Newport Seashore, California. Two weekends in the past, 4 groups left Newport Seashore victorious: The #1 New Jersey Fives, the #2 St. Louis Shock, the #5 Brooklyn Pickleball Crew, and the #6 Dallas Flash.
Listed below are the matchups for the semifinals, being held at Metropolis Pickle at Wollman Rink, inside Central Park.
- #1 New Jersey Fives v #5 Brooklyn Pickleball Crew
- #2 St. Louis Shock v #6 Dallas Flash
Playoff Format
Wanting on the above matchups, it’s possible you’ll surprise why New Jersey is not enjoying the bottom seed, the #6 Dallas Flash. MLP has a really distinctive format for the playoffs – The perfect seed (New Jersey) bought to decide on it is opponent from the underside two seeds, and selected to play Brooklyn. From there, St. Louis needed to play Dallas.
Not like the common season, if a match is received 3-0, a fourth recreation is not going to be performed.
Every playoff matchup is finest two out of three matches. So if a crew wins their first two matches, they transfer on to the Finals. If it goes to a 3rd match, the winner strikes on and the loser goes house. In every matchup all through the playoffs, the higher seed is taken into account the house crew within the first two matches. If a 3rd match occurs, there’s a coin toss to find out the house crew.
House court docket issues as a result of as the house crew, you get to react to the opposite crew’s lineups, together with their Dreambreaker lineup.
What’s on the road
The groups that win the semifinal matchup will play for an opportunity to be topped the 2026 Main League Pickleball Champions on Sunday, August thirtieth.
Broadcast Schedule of the MLP Finals
*All instances listed are in native Jap Daylight Time
Ticket classes are listed within the beneath broadcast schedule to assist followers know which session they’ll attend, relying on the tickets they bought.
All matches can be found on Pickleballtv and the Pickleballtv App, along with:
Friday, August 14
Saturday, August 15
Sunday, August 16
- CBS (Unique) | Midday-1pm ET (LIVE)
- Tennis Channel | 2pm-4pm ET (LIVE)
Climate Outlook
Friday appears to be like prefer it may trigger some issues with precipitation, however Saturday and Sunday look to be superb climate for pickleball. With humidity ranges probably within the 80s, it’ll be somewhat scorching and humid for the finals. This implies the Life Time LT Professional 48 shall be enjoying a bit slower than regular.
Preview of every matchup
Notice: Companion information listed are throughout your entire 2026 season, together with the Mid-Season Event and the playoffs.
|
#1 New Jersey Fives v #5 Brooklyn Pickleball Crew
Schedule:
- Match #1 – Friday, Aug 28 ~1:30pm EDT
- Match #2 – Saturday, Aug 29 – 10am EDT
- Match #3 (If vital) – Saturday, Aug 29 ~1pm EDT
Rosters:
- New Jersey: Anna Leigh Waters, Federico Staksrud, Jorja Johnson, Will Howells, Noe Khlif, and Milan Ran
- Brooklyn: Christian Alshon, Rachel Rohrabacher, Jackie Kawamoto, Riley Newman, Chris Haworth, and Hannah Blatt
Matchup Historical past:
The one that matchup between these two groups occurred on June 28, within the MLP New York Tremendous Sunday Remaining. The Fives took the victory, 3-0. Brooklyn performed Hannah Blatt and Jackie in ladies’s and Rachel performed combined with Christian, nevertheless it simply wasn’t sufficient.
Harm Issues: Riley Newman is transferring as near 100% as doable after a knee bone bruise he sustained earlier within the season. Nobody benefitted extra from the weekend in between the quarters and the semis than Rachel Rohrabacher, who continues to be coping with nagging accidents from the videoboard incident in MLP New York earlier this 12 months. Rachel is shut sufficient to 100% the place I consider she’s going to play all doubles video games for Brooklyn, however Hannah Blatt will nonetheless take the highest girl spot in a Dreambreaker, ought to it get there.
Recreation By Recreation Preview:
Girls’s Doubles
- Anticipated lineups – Jorja/Anna Leigh (33-1) v Rachel/Jackie (12-5)
- What to observe – Jorja and Anna Leigh had been nearly invincible your entire common season. The one loss they sustained was in opposition to the Shock whereas the Shock applied an ISO of Jorja, that means Anna Leigh did not see a ball within the Mid-Season Event. Will we see Jackie and Rachel implement an identical technique?
Males’s Doubles
- Anticipated lineups – Federico/Will (4-3) v Riley/Christian (22-4)
- What to observe – Fed and Will are underdogs in opposition to Riley and Christian. I believe the lineup shall be Will on the left with Ate up the proper in opposition to Christian on the left with Riley on the proper. One of many two issues I’m anticipating is Will in opposition to Christian in a cross court docket dink battle. The opposite matchup I’m is Riley’s palms versus Will’s palms throughout from one another. Fed is by far probably the most constant of the 4 gamers, so I do not assume he’s as a lot of an X issue. Will Howells is the X issue for me on this one.
Combined Doubles #1
- Anticipated lineups – Anna Leigh/Noe Khlif (29-5) v Christian/Rachel (20-5)
- What to observe – The BIGGEST storyline of the weekend is who performs with Anna Leigh in combined doubles. The top. Noe and Anna Leigh have the perfect combined doubles file within the league. Nevertheless, it actually appeared like Anna Leigh misplaced belief in Noe in Newport Seashore in opposition to the Palm Seashore Royals. Two of their 5 losses had been in opposition to Dekel and Tina, 4-11, 11th of September. The truth is, the 11th of September recreation was shut largely as a result of they switched Anna Leigh to the left. I might not be shocked if this finally ends up being Will Howells with Anna Leigh.
Combined Doubles #2
- Anticipated lineups – Jorja/Fed (7-1) v Jackie/Riley (13-8)
- What to observe – These two “second groups” are ridiculously good (no shock, as we’re within the semis). I might argue the participant with the bottom ground is Jorja Johnson. If she is on, she in all probability additionally has the best ceiling of the group. Jackie is actually going to have to be regular to face up to the offense Jorja and Fed carry.
Dreambreaker Lineups
- Anticipated lineups
- Christian Alshon vs. Federico Staksrud
- Chris Haworth vs. Will Howells
- Hannah Blatt vs. Anna Leigh Waters
- Jackie Kawamoto vs. Jorja Johnson
- What to observe – Chris Haworth in all probability must step up on the greatest stage of MLP if Brooklyn goes to win a Dreambreaker – he’s the X Issue for Brooklyn.
Tice’s Prediction
The Fives had the possibility to play in opposition to the Flash and as a substitute selected Brooklyn. Brooklyn has the potential be nice in Dreambreakers and the Flash had all of the momentum. I’m saying New Jersey wins in three, with Brooklyn successful match #1 in a Dreambreaker.
#2 St. Louis Shock v #6 Dallas Flash
Schedule:
- Match #1 – Friday, Aug 28 – Midday EDT
- Match #2 – Friday, Aug 28 – ~3pm EDT
- Match #3 (If vital) – Saturday, Aug 29 ~11:30am EDT
Rosters:
- St. Louis: Anna Vibrant, Hayden Patriquin, Kate Fahey, Gabe Tardio, Hunter Johnson, and Angie Walker
- Dallas: JW Johnson, Danni-Elle Townsend, Augie Ge, Alix Truong, Brooke Buckner, and Ivan Jakovljevic
Matchup Historical past:
The Shock and the Flash haven’t performed in any respect this 12 months in opposition to one another.
Harm Issues: None
Recreation By Recreation Preview:
Girls’s Doubles
- Anticipated lineups – Kate/Anna (30-4) v Alix/Danni (19-13)
- What to observe – Kate and Anna are the second finest crew in ladies’s doubles. Danni and Alix are 3-2 within the playoffs. Kate and Alix are prime 10 ball makers in my thoughts, so actually it comes right down to Danni vs. Anna – who can create extra offense whereas additionally protecting unforced errors down? My wager is Anna Vibrant.
Males’s Doubles
- Anticipated lineups – Gabe/Hayden (30-4) v Augie/JW (25-12)
- What to observe – JW vs. Gabe. Gabe and JW had been companions prior to now and JW has actually helped Gabe fairly a bit all through his earlier profession. If Gabe will get impatient and pulls pace ups too usually, he would possibly get the Shock males in hassle. Will he have sufficient endurance to make sure the Shock win males’s?
Combined Doubles #1
- Anticipated lineups – Anna/Hayden (25-7) v Brooke/JW (22-12)
- What to observe – Brooke goes to wish to search out some offense behind Hayden, who performs your entire court docket on the prime of the sport. If Brooke simply performs protection and neutralizing balls, I believe Anna and Hayden carry an excessive amount of offense. JW has been enjoying greater in combined and the Flash have seen the rewards of this.
Combined Doubles #2
- Anticipated lineups – Kate/Gabe (21-4) v Augie/Danni (19-4)
- What to observe – These are simply the 2 finest “second groups” in combined doubles in MLP going up in opposition to one another. They’ve two extraordinarily totally different types. Danni likes to create offense and Augie’s palms are nice. Kate and Gabe are completely satisfied slowing the sport down and dealing the purpose. Kate’s protection on Danni’s out of the air assaults goes to be the distinction maker on this one.
Dreambreaker Lineups
- Anticipated lineups
- JW Johnson vs. Hunter Johnson
- Augie Ge vs. Hayden Patriquin
- Brooke Buckner vs. Kate Fahey
- Danni Townsend vs. Anna Vibrant
- What to observe – The Kate vs. Brooke matchup would be the X Issue on this one. Surprisingly, the 2 main women wouldn’t have nice Dreambreaker numbers this 12 months:
- Brooke – 41-53 – 43.62%
- Kate – 10-14 – 41.67%
Tice’s Prediction
The St. Louis Shock are the preemptive favorites headed into the weekend. Can they make the finals for the primary time within the season-long format? The Shock have at all times proven the expertise, however mentally they should recover from the hump to win the championship.
The Finals
Clearly, we do not know who the finalists are going to be earlier than the semis are set. The primary match of the finals goes to be round 2:30pm on Saturday.
Under are the possibilities I’m giving every crew to make the finals:
- Fives – 80%
- Shock – 90%
- Brooklyn – 20%
- Flash – 10%
Most Possible Finals
The Fives vs. Shock
- Collection tied 2-2 (8-7 in video games in favor of NJ)
The Fives vs. Flash
- NJ has received 3-0 (9-4 in video games)
The Shock vs. Brooklyn
- St. Louis received the one matchup they performed in a Dreambreaker
My prediction for total winner
I’m guessing the Shock sweep the Dallas Flash 2-0 after which beat the Fives in a 3 match battle, successful 3-1 within the third match.
