{"id":3453,"date":"2026-04-12T15:15:51","date_gmt":"2026-04-12T06:15:51","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/pickle-times.com\/news\/ppa-finals-race\/"},"modified":"2026-09-28T15:58:46","modified_gmt":"2026-09-28T06:58:46","slug":"ppa-finals-race","status":"publish","type":"news","link":"https:\/\/pickle-times.com\/en\/news\/ppa-finals-race\/","title":{"rendered":"Decided in the final two tournaments! The PPA 2026 Finals qualification race\u2014Waters runs away with it, Sock on the bubble"},"content":{"rendered":"<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">2026\u5e74\u306ePPA\u30c4\u30a2\u30fc\u3082\u6b8b\u3059\u3068\u3053\u308d\u308f\u305a\u304b2\u5927\u4f1a\u3002\u30d5\u30a1\u30bb\u30f3\u30e9\u30fb\u30b5\u30af\u30e9\u30e1\u30f3\u30c8\u30aa\u30fc\u30d7\u30f3\u3068\u30d3\u30aa\u30ea\u30a2\u30fb\u30a2\u30c8\u30e9\u30f3\u30bf\u30fb\u30d4\u30c3\u30af\u30eb\u30dc\u30fc\u30eb\u9078\u624b\u6a29\u3092\u7d4c\u3066\u30015\u6708\u306ePPA\u30d5\u30a1\u30a4\u30ca\u30eb\u30ba\u51fa\u5834\u6a29\u3092\u4e89\u3046\u71be\u70c8\u306a\u30ec\u30fc\u30b9\u304c\u6700\u7d42\u5c40\u9762\u3092\u8fce\u3048\u3066\u3044\u308b\u3002<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>What:<\/strong> The battle for PPA Finals spots in the 2026 PPA Tour season<br><strong>Who:<\/strong> Top players such as Anna Leigh Waters, Kate Fahey, and Quang Duong<br><strong>When:<\/strong> Through the remaining two tournaments (Sacramento and Atlanta) to the Finals in May<br><strong>Where:<\/strong> The Finals are the stage for the PPA Tour's ultimate showdown<br><strong>Why:<\/strong> The Finals are a top-priority event awarding 2,000 points, equivalent to a Slam<br><strong>How:<\/strong> Top players in each category select partners according to their seeding<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">How the Finals work and the entry spots<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The PPA Finals are a special event awarding 2,000 points, the same as a regular Slam tournament. The following numbers of entry spots are set for each category.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Singles, each category: the top 8 earn spots<\/li>\n<li>Doubles, each category: the top 16 teams earn spots<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">In doubles, the top-seeded player picks their partner first, so who pairs with whom is one of the Finals' strategic highlights.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Women's singles: an almost-set top field<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The women's singles standings are relatively firming up. The following eight are currently projected to be within the entry range.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-table\"><table><thead><tr><th>Player Name<\/th><th>Situation<\/th><\/tr><\/thead><tbody><tr><td>Anna Leigh Waters<\/td><td>Effectively locked in at the top<\/td><\/tr><tr><td>Kate Fahey<\/td><td>Steady near the top<\/td><\/tr><tr><td>Caitlin Christian<\/td><td>Within the entry range<\/td><\/tr><tr><td>Brooke Buckner<\/td><td>Within the entry range<\/td><\/tr><tr><td>Lea Jansen<\/td><td>Within the entry range<\/td><\/tr><tr><td>Catherine Parenteau<\/td><td>Within the entry range<\/td><\/tr><tr><td>Zoe Wang<\/td><td>\"Almost locked in\" despite skipping Sacramento<\/td><\/tr><tr><td>Jaume Bouchard<\/td><td>Projected 8th<\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The one to watch is Zoe Wang. She is projected to secure a spot even if she skips Sacramento, which speaks to the size of her lead.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Men's singles: Jack Sock also within the entry range<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">In men's singles, the eight leading the race for spots are Quang Duong, Federico Staksrud, Hunter Johnson, Christian Alshon, Connor Garnett, Roscoe Bellamy, plus former tennis pro Jack Sock and Gabe Joseph.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">It's worth noting that Jack Sock, a convert from the tennis world, is among the top eight. It shows that his transition to pickleball is progressing smoothly.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Mixed doubles and doubles are wide open<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The mixed doubles and doubles categories are especially fierce. Multiple teams are crowded together within a slim margin of points, making it hard to predict which pairings will grab spots over the final two tournaments.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Depending on the results in Sacramento and Atlanta, players on the borderline could see their standings shuffle significantly. The last two tournaments become a serious battleground for a ticket to the Finals.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Q. How important is the PPA Finals?<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">A. The Finals are a top-tier event awarding 2,000 points, equivalent to a Slam. Held late in the season, they also have a major impact on the year-end final rankings.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Q. When and where are the remaining two tournaments held?<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">A. \u30d5\u30a1\u30bb\u30f3\u30e9\u30fb\u30b5\u30af\u30e9\u30e1\u30f3\u30c8\u30aa\u30fc\u30d7\u30f3\u3068\u30d3\u30aa\u30ea\u30a2\u30fb\u30a2\u30c8\u30e9\u30f3\u30bf\u30fb\u30d4\u30c3\u30af\u30eb\u30dc\u30fc\u30eb\u9078\u624b\u6a29\u304c\u6b8b\u308a2\u3064\u306e\u4e88\u9078\u5bfe\u8c61\u5927\u4f1a\u3067\u3059\u3002\u8a73\u7d30\u306f\u516c\u5f0fPPA\u30c4\u30a2\u30fc\u30b5\u30a4\u30c8\u3067\u3054\u78ba\u8a8d\u304f\u3060\u3055\u3044\u3002<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Q. How is doubles partner selection carried out?<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">A. At the Finals, the system has qualifying players choose partners in order starting from the top seed. Earning a high seed allows for an advantageous partner choice, so the fight for seeding is also important.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Related Articles<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">It drew attention as a warm-up for the PPA Tour;<a href=\"https:\/\/pickle-times.com\/en\/news\/ppa-sacramento-open\/\">PPA Sacramento Open<\/a>check out those results too. Also,<a href=\"https:\/\/pickle-times.com\/en\/news\/us-open-pickleball-2026-2\/\">US Open Pickleball 2026<\/a>see the latest information as well. For pickleball rules,<a href=\"https:\/\/pickle-times.com\/en\/news\/usap-rules-2026\/\">USAP 2026 rule changes<\/a>are also worth a look.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">[Sources]<br>and<a href=\"https:\/\/www.thedinkpickleball.com\/2026-ppa-tour-race-to-the-finals\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">The Dink: 2026 PPA Tour Race to the Finals<\/a><br>and<a href=\"https:\/\/www.ppasanctions.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">PPA Tour official website<\/a><\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>2026\u5e74\u306ePPA\u30c4\u30a2\u30fc\u3082\u6b8b\u3059\u3068\u3053\u308d\u308f\u305a\u304b2\u5927\u4f1a\u3002\u30d5\u30a1\u30bb\u30f3\u30e9\u30fb\u30b5\u30af\u30e9\u30e1\u30f3\u30c8\u30aa\u30fc\u30d7\u30f3\u3068\u30d3\u30aa\u30ea\u30a2\u30fb\u30a2\u30c8\u30e9\u30f3\u30bf\u30fb\u30d4\u30c3 [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"ssp_meta_description":"","swell_btn_cv_data":"","pt_pr_sponsor":""},"categories":[],"tags":[],"region":[],"class_list":["post-3453","news","type-news","status-publish","hentry"],"acf":{"summary":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/pickle-times.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news\/3453","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/pickle-times.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/pickle-times.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/news"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pickle-times.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pickle-times.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3453"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/pickle-times.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3453"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pickle-times.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3453"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pickle-times.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3453"},{"taxonomy":"region","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pickle-times.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/region?post=3453"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}