米国を拠点にプロピックルボールの最高峰を運営するCarvana PPAツアーが、種目をまたいで一人のプレーヤーを一つの数字で評価する「World Pickleball Rankings（世界ピックルボールランキング、以下WPR）」を発表した。2026-2027シーズンから稼働し、チャレンジャーから世界選手権まで、世界中のPPA公式大会の成績が同じリーダーボードに合流する。テニスやゴルフに世界ランクがあるように、ピックルボールにも横断的な順位が生まれることになる。
Same-gender doubles 50%, mixed 35%, singles 15%, bundled into one number
The heart of WPR is how the weighting is split. Results in "same-gender doubles," combining men's and women's doubles, count 50%, mixed doubles 35% and singles 15%, adding up to one figure per player. Players who enter all three and keep winning rise higher, while specialists in a single event are relatively disadvantaged.
| Event category | Weighting in WPR |
|---|---|
| Same-gender doubles (men's doubles + women's doubles) | 50% |
| Mixed doubles | 35% |
| Singles | 15% |
発表でCEOのコナー・パードー氏は「偉大さは一面的ではない。WPRは明確さと信頼性を突き詰めたもので、一つの数字と一つの世界基準で、誰が本当に世界最高の選手なのかを語る」と述べている。
Different in role from DUPR's "rating": a "ranking" closer to the ATP
What is easy to confuse here is how this relates to DUPR. The names and the numbers look alike, but they measure different things. DUPR is a yardstick of ability launched in 2021 by MLP founder Steve Kuhn, using a modified Elo algorithm to produce a figure from 2.000 to 8.000 based on the most recent 30 singles and 60 doubles matches. Counting casual matches as well, it shows how strong you are, closer to a handicap in golf.DUPR also started a rating specifically for the wheelchair division in 2026, broadening its scope as it becomes a common language for measuring ability.
WPR, by contrast, is an order based on how high you finish at official events. In tennis terms, DUPR is the yardstick of ability and WPR is the world ranking of tournament results, like the ATP or WTA. The two are not competitors but a division of labor: DUPR measures ability, WPR measures how far you advance.
| DUPR | WPR (world ranking) | |
|---|---|---|
| Character | Rating (yardstick of ability) | Ranking (order by results) |
| Source data | Most recent 30 (S) / 60 (D) matches, casual matches included | Top 14 results over the past 52 weeks, official PPA events |
| Scale | A figure from 2.000 to 8.000 | 1st, 2nd and so on |
| Operator (start) | DUPR (2021) | Carvana PPA Tour (from 2026-27) |
The thinking behind it: top 14 of the past 52 weeks, with the four majors compulsory
The calculation takes the top 14 results from each player's past 52 weeks and weights points by event size. Taking only the top 14 rather than counting every event shows care not to let the wear of over-entering feed straight into the standings. On the other hand, the four majors including the Pickleball World Championships always count regardless of result. The message is a firm one: there is no hiding from the big stage.
This leaderboard also feeds directly into qualification for the PPA Finals late in the season, where the top eight men and top eight women contest all three events. It affects entries and byes at seeding too. Reports note, however, that seeding at individual events is decided separately from WPR, so the world ranking does not govern every draw.Where the major tours PPA, MLP and APP sitis worth knowing to see where this order matters in the business.
How Yuta Funamizu's Asian No. 1 looks on a single global yardstick
For players in Japan, this change means their own position gets placed on a world coordinate. Yuta Funamizu, who switched from soft tennis in 2024 and moved to the US on his own, became the first Japanese man to reach No. 1 in the Asian rankings in men's doubles, and rose to 25th in the world in that event. On May 10, 2026 at the PPA 500 San Clemente, he also took the first PPA Tour title for a Japanese player.
His strength is in men's doubles. Because same-gender doubles carries the heaviest weight in WPR at 50%, a design that leans on his best event works in his favor. On the other hand, climbing the overall order means filling in the 15% and 35% from singles and mixed, which hands players who have concentrated on one event new homework. Where a world No. 25 in a single event settles in a combined order across three is exactly the gap that WPR makes visible as all-round strength.
The tour that came to Tokyo in July feeds straight into this one leaderboard
An international stop held in Tachikawa in July 2026, thePPA ASIA 500 Sansan Tokyo Open (US$50,000 in prize money, around 750 entrants across Asia), also becomes part of the same ranking calculation under WPR. Results at events inside Japan flow straight into the world yardstick. Track your own level with DUPR and watch how far players advance with WPR: from the 2026-2027 season on, fans and players in Japan can talk about players with two numbers side by side. The first thing to watch is which of Japan's strengths and weaknesses that 50% weighting on same-gender doubles lights up.
Sources
- Pickleball News Asia「PPA Tour introduces World Pickleball Rankings to answer who’s the best」（2026-08-06）
- Carvana PPA Tour official, "Carvana PPA Tour Announces the World Pickleball Rankings"
- The Dink「PPA Launches New ‘World Rankings’」
- Visional press release, "Pro pickleball player Yuta Funamizu becomes the first Japanese man to reach No. 1 in the Asian rankings"
