Meet Team Europe – East | MLP Nations Cup 2026
Meet Team Europe – East: Six Flags, One Roar
From Kaunas to Zagreb, Maribor to Bucharest, Sweden to Poland: six nations pull on the same jersey to conquer Dallas. Leading the charge is Lina Padegimaite, our June cover star, ready to leave it all on the court for Lithuania at the MLP Nations Cup presented by DoorDash.
Group B, consider yourself warned!
Some teams are built under one flag. This one was built under six. And when six nations rally behind a single battle cry, you don’t get a team: you get a squad on a mission.
Team Europe – East brings together Croatia, Romania, Sweden, Lithuania, Slovenia and Poland. Off the court they speak different languages. On it, they speak just one: fearless pickleball. This roster has Davis Cup and Fed Cup veterans, a former WTA top 30 player, a footballer who traded stadiums for the kitchen line, an 18-year-old who already rules his country, and a Polish star who works as an actuary between matches.
Favorites? No. Dangerous? Absolutely. That’s exactly what makes them so scary.
The Roster
Captain: Caleb Garrard
Andrei Daescu (Romania)
Lina Padegimaite (Lithuania)
Tina Pisnik (Slovenia)
Ivan Jakovljevic (Croatia)
Arwid Dahlin (Sweden)
Daria Walczak (Poland)
Caleb Garrard: The Captain Uniting Six Flags
Six players, six countries, six stories. Someone has to turn all of that into one team, and that man is Caleb Garrard.
At the MLP Nations Cup, the captain is no figurehead. He decides who plays with whom, which pairing takes the court and when, and how to approach every DreamBreaker, where a single point can send a nation home or keep it alive in the title hunt.
His challenge is huge: blend Daescu and Pisnik’s experience, Lina’s heart, Jakovljevic’s home-court edge, Dahlin’s youth and Daria’s giant-slaying instinct. If he can make these six pieces fit, Europe – East could be the big surprise in Dallas.
Andrei Daescu: The General
When things get ugly, everyone looks to Andrei. Before falling for pickleball in 2017, he represented Romania in the Davis Cup and reached No. 126 in the ATP doubles rankings. What followed is a career worth a standing ovation:
APP No. 1 in men’s and mixed doubles in 2022
2023 US Open men’s doubles champion
Two-time MLP champion, most recently in 2025 with the Columbus Sliders
With Christian Alshon, beat Ben Johns and Gabe Tardio in five games in Mesa
Just weeks ago he was the top mixed seed in Virginia Beach. He brings the experience and the same old hunger. He’s the general of this army.
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Lina Padegimaite: Our Cover, Her Flag
For the DINK Authority family, Lina is one of our own: she was our June cover. And her story gives you goosebumps.
Born in Kaunas and started playing tennis at age 8
Represented Lithuania at the 2011 Fed Cup
Played D1 tennis on a full scholarship at the University of Texas
Holds a Doctorate of Physical Therapy
She discovered pickleball in 2020, seven months pregnant, when a friend gave her a paddle at her baby shower. Two months after giving birth, she won the 5.0 singles title at the 2021 USA Pickleball National Championships. Since then she has collected 8+ pro medals, reached the singles top 10, and played for several MLP franchises, winning the 2024 Mid-Season Tournament with Brooklyn and the 2025 Challenger Cup, right here in Dallas, with California.
In Dallas she’s chasing something no ranking can measure: her country’s jersey across her chest.
Read her full profile on DINK Authority: https://www.dinkauthoritymagazine.com/players/mlp-pikcleball-lina-padegimaite-the-fives
Tina Pisnik: The Legend
On your feet, because this is tennis history. The Slovenian was WTA No. 29 in 2004. She won a WTA title in Bol and reached the third round at Wimbledon, Roland Garros and the US Open.
She joined the PPA Tour in 2024 and quickly earned respect. In Las Vegas, alongside Alshon, she reached the mixed semifinals as the No. 3 seed and pushed Bright and Patriquin to a third game that ended 11-8. That’s Grand Slam class on a 44-foot court.
Ivan Jakovljevic: The Hometown Hero
His story belongs in a movie. After a long career in soccer, he came to the United States in 2018, and in 2021, while teaching tennis in Tyler, Texas, he discovered pickleball. He hasn’t put the paddle down since.
The best part? He lives in Dallas, minutes from Brookhaven. This Croatian lefty will practically be playing at home, with the crowd on his side.
And here’s a twist only fate could write: in April, in Atlanta, he beat… Lina Padegimaite in mixed doubles! Now they’ll be on the same side of the net. Pity the opponents.
Arwid Dahlin: The Future Is Now
He’s 18 years old, stands 6'2", and is already Sweden’s national champion in all three disciplines: singles, doubles and mixed. He was the men’s doubles runner-up on the 2025 European Tour.
He’s the youngest on the team, and he’s coming to Dallas to tell the world that European pickleball has its next generation. Keep an eye on him.
Daria Walczak: The Giant Slayer
Another familiar face for our readers: Daria has already graced the pages of DINK Authority, and her story deserved to be told.
She left Poland to play tennis at Drake University in Iowa, where she discovered pickleball. Today she lives in Arizona and balances the court with a full-time job as an actuary. That’s right: numbers by day, pickleball by night.
At her first pro event, APP St. Louis 2023, she won seven matches. At APP Sacramento 2024 she reached the mixed final, and along the way she took down names like Simone Jardim, Jill Braverman, Gabe Tardio… and Andrei Daescu! The same Daescu who is now her teammate. She has eight pro medals to her name.
In Dallas she’ll carry the flag of a country where pickleball is growing fast, and an entire nation will be watching.
Read her full profile on DINK Authority: https://www.dinkauthoritymagazine.com/players/mlp-pickleball-daria-walczak
Group B: The Group Of Death
No easy rides here. Team Europe – East landed in a group that burns:
Australia, with Danni-Elle Townsend and a generation that fears no one
Latin America, with Alexa Schull and the heart of an entire region
Asia International, the wild card nobody wants to face
Three opponents, three different styles, and zero margin for error. Every point is gold and every match is a final.
The Details
Dates: October 30 – November 1
Venue: Brookhaven Country Club, Farmers Branch (Dallas), Texas
Format: group play Friday and Saturday; single elimination Sunday
The MLP Nations Cup presented by DoorDash kicks off the Opendoor Pickleball World Championships, running through November 8
Six flags, one captain, one mission.
Europe – East isn’t coming to Texas for sightseeing. They’re coming to fight for every ball, silence the doubters and write their own history.
Let the battle begin!
Meet Team Europe – East: Six Flags, One Roar
From Kaunas to Zagreb, Maribor to Bucharest, Sweden to Poland: six nations pull on the same jersey to conquer Dallas. Leading the charge is Lina Padegimaite, our June cover star, ready to leave it all on the court for Lithuania at the MLP Nations Cup presented by DoorDash.
Group B, consider yourself warned!
Some teams are built under one flag. This one was built under six. And when six nations rally behind a single battle cry, you don’t get a team: you get a squad on a mission.
Team Europe – East brings together Croatia, Romania, Sweden, Lithuania, Slovenia and Poland. Off the court they speak different languages. On it, they speak just one: fearless pickleball. This roster has Davis Cup and Fed Cup veterans, a former WTA top 30 player, a footballer who traded stadiums for the kitchen line, an 18-year-old who already rules his country, and a Polish star who works as an actuary between matches.
Favorites? No. Dangerous? Absolutely. That’s exactly what makes them so scary.
The Roster
Captain: Caleb Garrard
Andrei Daescu (Romania)
Lina Padegimaite (Lithuania)
Tina Pisnik (Slovenia)
Ivan Jakovljevic (Croatia)
Arwid Dahlin (Sweden)
Daria Walczak (Poland)
Caleb Garrard: The Captain Uniting Six Flags
Six players, six countries, six stories. Someone has to turn all of that into one team, and that man is Caleb Garrard.
At the MLP Nations Cup, the captain is no figurehead. He decides who plays with whom, which pairing takes the court and when, and how to approach every DreamBreaker, where a single point can send a nation home or keep it alive in the title hunt.
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His challenge is huge: blend Daescu and Pisnik’s experience, Lina’s heart, Jakovljevic’s home-court edge, Dahlin’s youth and Daria’s giant-slaying instinct. If he can make these six pieces fit, Europe – East could be the big surprise in Dallas.
Andrei Daescu: The General
When things get ugly, everyone looks to Andrei. Before falling for pickleball in 2017, he represented Romania in the Davis Cup and reached No. 126 in the ATP doubles rankings. What followed is a career worth a standing ovation:
APP No. 1 in men’s and mixed doubles in 2022
2023 US Open men’s doubles champion
Two-time MLP champion, most recently in 2025 with the Columbus Sliders
With Christian Alshon, beat Ben Johns and Gabe Tardio in five games in Mesa
Just weeks ago he was the top mixed seed in Virginia Beach. He brings the experience and the same old hunger. He’s the general of this army.
LOVE PICKLEBALL?
Get Dink Authority Magazine updates, new editions, pro stories and event alerts.
We respect your privacy. Unsubscribe anytime.
Lina Padegimaite: Our Cover, Her Flag
For the DINK Authority family, Lina is one of our own: she was our June cover. And her story gives you goosebumps.
Born in Kaunas and started playing tennis at age 8
Represented Lithuania at the 2011 Fed Cup
Played D1 tennis on a full scholarship at the University of Texas
Holds a Doctorate of Physical Therapy
She discovered pickleball in 2020, seven months pregnant, when a friend gave her a paddle at her baby shower. Two months after giving birth, she won the 5.0 singles title at the 2021 USA Pickleball National Championships. Since then she has collected 8+ pro medals, reached the singles top 10, and played for several MLP franchises, winning the 2024 Mid-Season Tournament with Brooklyn and the 2025 Challenger Cup, right here in Dallas, with California.
In Dallas she’s chasing something no ranking can measure: her country’s jersey across her chest.
Read her full profile on DINK Authority: https://www.dinkauthoritymagazine.com/players/mlp-pikcleball-lina-padegimaite-the-fives
Tina Pisnik: The Legend
On your feet, because this is tennis history. The Slovenian was WTA No. 29 in 2004. She won a WTA title in Bol and reached the third round at Wimbledon, Roland Garros and the US Open.
She joined the PPA Tour in 2024 and quickly earned respect. In Las Vegas, alongside Alshon, she reached the mixed semifinals as the No. 3 seed and pushed Bright and Patriquin to a third game that ended 11-8. That’s Grand Slam class on a 44-foot court.
Ivan Jakovljevic: The Hometown Hero
His story belongs in a movie. After a long career in soccer, he came to the United States in 2018, and in 2021, while teaching tennis in Tyler, Texas, he discovered pickleball. He hasn’t put the paddle down since.
The best part? He lives in Dallas, minutes from Brookhaven. This Croatian lefty will practically be playing at home, with the crowd on his side.
And here’s a twist only fate could write: in April, in Atlanta, he beat… Lina Padegimaite in mixed doubles! Now they’ll be on the same side of the net. Pity the opponents.
Arwid Dahlin: The Future Is Now
He’s 18 years old, stands 6'2", and is already Sweden’s national champion in all three disciplines: singles, doubles and mixed. He was the men’s doubles runner-up on the 2025 European Tour.
He’s the youngest on the team, and he’s coming to Dallas to tell the world that European pickleball has its next generation. Keep an eye on him.
Daria Walczak: The Giant Slayer
Another familiar face for our readers: Daria has already graced the pages of DINK Authority, and her story deserved to be told.
She left Poland to play tennis at Drake University in Iowa, where she discovered pickleball. Today she lives in Arizona and balances the court with a full-time job as an actuary. That’s right: numbers by day, pickleball by night.
At her first pro event, APP St. Louis 2023, she won seven matches. At APP Sacramento 2024 she reached the mixed final, and along the way she took down names like Simone Jardim, Jill Braverman, Gabe Tardio… and Andrei Daescu! The same Daescu who is now her teammate. She has eight pro medals to her name.
In Dallas she’ll carry the flag of a country where pickleball is growing fast, and an entire nation will be watching.
Read her full profile on DINK Authority: https://www.dinkauthoritymagazine.com/players/mlp-pickleball-daria-walczak
Group B: The Group Of Death
No easy rides here. Team Europe – East landed in a group that burns:
Australia, with Danni-Elle Townsend and a generation that fears no one
Latin America, with Alexa Schull and the heart of an entire region
Asia International, the wild card nobody wants to face
Three opponents, three different styles, and zero margin for error. Every point is gold and every match is a final.
The Details
Dates: October 30 – November 1
Venue: Brookhaven Country Club, Farmers Branch (Dallas), Texas
Format: group play Friday and Saturday; single elimination Sunday
The MLP Nations Cup presented by DoorDash kicks off the Opendoor Pickleball World Championships, running through November 8
Six flags, one captain, one mission.
Europe – East isn’t coming to Texas for sightseeing. They’re coming to fight for every ball, silence the doubters and write their own history.
Let the battle begin!
