JW Johnson and Tama Shimabukuro: The Serious One Smiles, and With Good Reason, Alongside the Wonder Kid
At Worlds, the world No. 1 on DUPR and a 16-year-old came back from two games down, with the crowd behind them, to win men’s doubles gold
FARMERS BRANCH, Texas (Nov. 9, 2026) — JW Johnson is a serious, focused player, the kind who rarely gives away an emotion. That is why what happened Sunday at Brookhaven Country Club felt so big. When the last point fell in a final that ran more than two hours, the player the crowd loves so much let out everything he had held in all week and celebrated alongside his young partner, Tama Shimabukuro, just 15 years old. It was the pair’s first title together, and the serious one on the court could not stop smiling. Some are already calling it a match-of-the-year candidate.
The stage could not have been bigger. The Opendoor Pickleball World Championships, the 3,000-point event that is the most important on the PPA Tour calendar, drew more than 4,000 registered players and closed with Sunday’s best-of-five finals.
LOVE PICKLEBALL?
Get Dink Authority Magazine updates, new editions, pro stories and event alerts.
We respect your privacy. Unsubscribe anytime.
Johnson and Shimabukuro arrived as the No. 4 seeds, and the final started uphill. Christian Alshon and Andrei Daescu, who had knocked out top seeds Ben Johns and Gabe Tardio in the semifinals, won the first two games by the same score, 11-5, and looked in control. With a crowd that kept pushing, Johnson and Shimabukuro turned it around with 11-4, 11-8 and 11-4 to take the gold. Alshon and Daescu took silver.
For Johnson, recently the No. 1 DUPR-rated player in the world, slightly ahead of Ben Johns, the title came after nearly a year without one. It was not a one-crown week. He also came close to another: with his sister Jorja, the No. 3 seeds, he lost the mixed doubles final to Ben Johns and Anna Leigh Waters 9-11, 11-6, 11-9, 3-11, 11-4, after leading 7-1 in the third game. In September, at Nationals in Cary, the Johnsons had beaten that same pair in the semifinals. His brother Hunter won men’s singles at that event and reached the quarterfinals in Texas.
Shimabukuro’s story reads like a script. Before pickleball, he was a skateboarding sensation. A year ago he was playing on the Major League Pickleball Junior All-Star team, and in May he introduced himself to the world in Atlanta, where he beat Federico Staksrud, a breakout DINK Authority had already told. Six months later, at 15, he owns a Worlds gold medal in men’s doubles, the first of his professional doubles career.
Anna Leigh Waters was once again the queen of the week. She beat Kate Fahey 11-3, 11-2 in women’s singles, her fourth straight Worlds title and her 300th singles win on the PPA Tour, after playing eight doubles games that same day. With Anna Bright she beat Catherine Parenteau and Sofia Sewing 11-4, 11-9, 11-5 in women’s doubles, without dropping a game, and with Ben Johns she took the mixed title, their fourth consecutive Worlds crown. It was her 46th Triple Crown.
In men’s singles, John Lucian Goins beat Jack Sock 11-5, 12-10 to repeat as champion. Sock had reached the final by eliminating Federico Staksrud, Roscoe Bellamy and Hunter Johnson. Goins had taken out No. 1 seed Chris Haworth 11-5, 11-5 in the quarterfinals.
The Challenger Showdown also crowned its champions, who earned PPA Tour contracts for 2027: Riley Inn and Alex Emery in men’s doubles, Matt Burkhardt in men’s singles, Allie Reichert and Madalina Grigoriu in women’s doubles, Eileen Wang in women’s singles, and Anne-Sophie Courteau with Juan Varon in mixed doubles.
The PPA Tour now heads to Europe for the P125 Lille, Nov. 12-15, followed by the Proton Daytona Beach Open, Nov. 16-22, in Holly Hill, Florida.
At Worlds, the world No. 1 on DUPR and a 16-year-old came back from two games down, with the crowd behind them, to win men’s doubles gold
FARMERS BRANCH, Texas (Nov. 9, 2026) — JW Johnson is a serious, focused player, the kind who rarely gives away an emotion. That is why what happened Sunday at Brookhaven Country Club felt so big. When the last point fell in a final that ran more than two hours, the player the crowd loves so much let out everything he had held in all week and celebrated alongside his young partner, Tama Shimabukuro, just 15 years old. It was the pair’s first title together, and the serious one on the court could not stop smiling. Some are already calling it a match-of-the-year candidate.
Current Issue
Shelby Bates: The Ritual
Read Now →
The stage could not have been bigger. The Opendoor Pickleball World Championships, the 3,000-point event that is the most important on the PPA Tour calendar, drew more than 4,000 registered players and closed with Sunday’s best-of-five finals.
LOVE PICKLEBALL?
Get Dink Authority Magazine updates, new editions, pro stories and event alerts.
We respect your privacy. Unsubscribe anytime.
Johnson and Shimabukuro arrived as the No. 4 seeds, and the final started uphill. Christian Alshon and Andrei Daescu, who had knocked out top seeds Ben Johns and Gabe Tardio in the semifinals, won the first two games by the same score, 11-5, and looked in control. With a crowd that kept pushing, Johnson and Shimabukuro turned it around with 11-4, 11-8 and 11-4 to take the gold. Alshon and Daescu took silver.
For Johnson, recently the No. 1 DUPR-rated player in the world, slightly ahead of Ben Johns, the title came after nearly a year without one. It was not a one-crown week. He also came close to another: with his sister Jorja, the No. 3 seeds, he lost the mixed doubles final to Ben Johns and Anna Leigh Waters 9-11, 11-6, 11-9, 3-11, 11-4, after leading 7-1 in the third game. In September, at Nationals in Cary, the Johnsons had beaten that same pair in the semifinals. His brother Hunter won men’s singles at that event and reached the quarterfinals in Texas.
Shimabukuro’s story reads like a script. Before pickleball, he was a skateboarding sensation. A year ago he was playing on the Major League Pickleball Junior All-Star team, and in May he introduced himself to the world in Atlanta, where he beat Federico Staksrud, a breakout DINK Authority had already told. Six months later, at 15, he owns a Worlds gold medal in men’s doubles, the first of his professional doubles career.
Anna Leigh Waters was once again the queen of the week. She beat Kate Fahey 11-3, 11-2 in women’s singles, her fourth straight Worlds title and her 300th singles win on the PPA Tour, after playing eight doubles games that same day. With Anna Bright she beat Catherine Parenteau and Sofia Sewing 11-4, 11-9, 11-5 in women’s doubles, without dropping a game, and with Ben Johns she took the mixed title, their fourth consecutive Worlds crown. It was her 46th Triple Crown.
In men’s singles, John Lucian Goins beat Jack Sock 11-5, 12-10 to repeat as champion. Sock had reached the final by eliminating Federico Staksrud, Roscoe Bellamy and Hunter Johnson. Goins had taken out No. 1 seed Chris Haworth 11-5, 11-5 in the quarterfinals.
The Challenger Showdown also crowned its champions, who earned PPA Tour contracts for 2027: Riley Inn and Alex Emery in men’s doubles, Matt Burkhardt in men’s singles, Allie Reichert and Madalina Grigoriu in women’s doubles, Eileen Wang in women’s singles, and Anne-Sophie Courteau with Juan Varon in mixed doubles.
The PPA Tour now heads to Europe for the P125 Lille, Nov. 12-15, followed by the Proton Daytona Beach Open, Nov. 16-22, in Holly Hill, Florida.
