Juan Benitez: The Coach Behind Patriquin, Bright, Staksrud
Benítez: The Coach Whispering in the Ears of Patriquin, Bright and Staksrud
“I’m not good at doing things halfway,” he told us when he was our cover. His players are proving it on the court.
There’s always one more person in the trophy photos. In Las Vegas, he stood beside Hayden Patriquin and Anna Bright. A week later in Chicago, he stood next to Patriquin and Federico Staksrud. His name is Juan Manuel Benítez, the Colombian coach whose players can’t stop winning on the PPA Tour this year. On social media, they’re already calling him “coach of the year.”
Bright and Patriquin: The Team That Beat the Untouchables
For years, beating Anna Leigh Waters and Ben Johns in mixed doubles seemed impossible. Bright and Patriquin have done it twice this year.
The first came in February at the Mesa Cup, where they arrived as the No. 3 seeds. They gave up just 22 points in five rounds, then swept top-seeded Waters and Johns in two games in the final. It was Bright’s first mixed doubles gold since November 2024.
In September, they won the PPA National Championships in North Carolina, beating JW and Jorja Johnson 11-9, 11-3, 11-7.
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Then on October 4, at the Rate Las Vegas Open, they did it again: 11-9, 11-7 over Waters and Johns. They reached that final after three straight three-game matches. They denied Waters her 200th title that Sunday and helped send Ben Johns home from Las Vegas with three silver medals, snapping his streak of 58 consecutive PPA tournaments with at least one title.
“It’s really exciting to see a lot of the things that you’ve been working on translate into a big match,” Bright said. Patriquin, who had celebrated his 21st birthday in Las Vegas days earlier, put it simply: “It feels amazing, especially to do it in Vegas and to win here.” That same afternoon, Bright reached 40 PPA Tour titles, becoming only the fourth player in history to do so.
Staksrud and Patriquin: The Chemistry That Keeps Winning
A week later at the Veolia Chicago Cup, Patriquin switched partners and kept on winning. Alongside Federico Staksrud as the No. 1 seeds, he got past CJ Klinger and Eric Oncins in the semifinals, then rolled over Jaume Martínez Vich and Nico Acevedo 11-1, 11-6 in the final. Ben Johns had already been knocked out in the Round of 32.
It was Staksrud and Patriquin’s fifth title together. The story began in June 2024 in Sacramento, with an 11-7, 11-7, 11-0 win over JW Johnson and Dylan Frazier, which was also Patriquin’s first PPA title. It continued in Virginia Beach with a historic comeback against Ben and Collin Johns: down 3-9 in the fourth game, they closed out the match on a run of 16 near-consecutive points. Then came the PPA season finale title in 2024 and gold at the World Championships in Dallas in 2025.
Staksrud brings the patience and the crosscourt game from the left side, and Patriquin brings the aggression from the right. Staksrud had come close to a title in several recent tournaments, and Chicago confirmed that with Patriquin he is still one of the teams to beat.
The Man in the Corner
What do all three have in common? The voice they hear during timeouts. Benítez came to pickleball from tennis. He was born in Medellín, trained in Argentina, was a two-time All-American at Baylor and played professional tennis in more than 20 countries. From that path he brings what we now see in his players: discipline, consistency and a cool head under pressure.
👉 Get to know Juan Manuel Benítez in this exclusive interview from when he was our cover: Juan Manuel Benítez: Colombian Pride and Major League Pickleball Dreams
What’s Next
Patriquin is 21 and already the key piece of two of the strongest teams on tour. Bright has 40 titles, and Staksrud is winning again. The question for the rest of the season is how much more Benítez’s players can win.
A Name That Didn’t Appear Overnight
Juan Benítez didn’t come out of nowhere. He is a key figure in the pickleball ecosystem: a player who left his sweat on the court season after season, and part of what this sport is building today is owed to players like him. This season we see him from a different corner, the coach’s, doing serious, well-grounded work that is already paying off. A friend of this house, we’ll keep following his steps.
See you in the next one.
Benítez: The Coach Whispering in the Ears of Patriquin, Bright and Staksrud
“I’m not good at doing things halfway,” he told us when he was our cover. His players are proving it on the court.
There’s always one more person in the trophy photos. In Las Vegas, he stood beside Hayden Patriquin and Anna Bright. A week later in Chicago, he stood next to Patriquin and Federico Staksrud. His name is Juan Manuel Benítez, the Colombian coach whose players can’t stop winning on the PPA Tour this year. On social media, they’re already calling him “coach of the year.”
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For years, beating Anna Leigh Waters and Ben Johns in mixed doubles seemed impossible. Bright and Patriquin have done it twice this year.
The first came in February at the Mesa Cup, where they arrived as the No. 3 seeds. They gave up just 22 points in five rounds, then swept top-seeded Waters and Johns in two games in the final. It was Bright’s first mixed doubles gold since November 2024.
In September, they won the PPA National Championships in North Carolina, beating JW and Jorja Johnson 11-9, 11-3, 11-7.
LOVE PICKLEBALL?
Get Dink Authority Magazine updates, new editions, pro stories and event alerts.
We respect your privacy. Unsubscribe anytime.
Then on October 4, at the Rate Las Vegas Open, they did it again: 11-9, 11-7 over Waters and Johns. They reached that final after three straight three-game matches. They denied Waters her 200th title that Sunday and helped send Ben Johns home from Las Vegas with three silver medals, snapping his streak of 58 consecutive PPA tournaments with at least one title.
“It’s really exciting to see a lot of the things that you’ve been working on translate into a big match,” Bright said. Patriquin, who had celebrated his 21st birthday in Las Vegas days earlier, put it simply: “It feels amazing, especially to do it in Vegas and to win here.” That same afternoon, Bright reached 40 PPA Tour titles, becoming only the fourth player in history to do so.
Staksrud and Patriquin: The Chemistry That Keeps Winning
A week later at the Veolia Chicago Cup, Patriquin switched partners and kept on winning. Alongside Federico Staksrud as the No. 1 seeds, he got past CJ Klinger and Eric Oncins in the semifinals, then rolled over Jaume Martínez Vich and Nico Acevedo 11-1, 11-6 in the final. Ben Johns had already been knocked out in the Round of 32.
It was Staksrud and Patriquin’s fifth title together. The story began in June 2024 in Sacramento, with an 11-7, 11-7, 11-0 win over JW Johnson and Dylan Frazier, which was also Patriquin’s first PPA title. It continued in Virginia Beach with a historic comeback against Ben and Collin Johns: down 3-9 in the fourth game, they closed out the match on a run of 16 near-consecutive points. Then came the PPA season finale title in 2024 and gold at the World Championships in Dallas in 2025.
Staksrud brings the patience and the crosscourt game from the left side, and Patriquin brings the aggression from the right. Staksrud had come close to a title in several recent tournaments, and Chicago confirmed that with Patriquin he is still one of the teams to beat.
The Man in the Corner
What do all three have in common? The voice they hear during timeouts. Benítez came to pickleball from tennis. He was born in Medellín, trained in Argentina, was a two-time All-American at Baylor and played professional tennis in more than 20 countries. From that path he brings what we now see in his players: discipline, consistency and a cool head under pressure.
👉 Get to know Juan Manuel Benítez in this exclusive interview from when he was our cover: Juan Manuel Benítez: Colombian Pride and Major League Pickleball Dreams
What’s Next
Patriquin is 21 and already the key piece of two of the strongest teams on tour. Bright has 40 titles, and Staksrud is winning again. The question for the rest of the season is how much more Benítez’s players can win.
A Name That Didn’t Appear Overnight
Juan Benítez didn’t come out of nowhere. He is a key figure in the pickleball ecosystem: a player who left his sweat on the court season after season, and part of what this sport is building today is owed to players like him. This season we see him from a different corner, the coach’s, doing serious, well-grounded work that is already paying off. A friend of this house, we’ll keep following his steps.
See you in the next one.
