New Faces join Stalwarts Atop The Podium At Association Of Pickleball Players 2026 AARP Open In Seattle

After a slew of international events, the Association of Pickleball Players (APP) hosted its first US-based tournament of the 2026 season last weekend in Seattle, and the whole APP tour made the pilgrimage to the city where this sport was founded for the 2026 AAPR Open.

Click here for the PickleballDen.com home page for the event, where you can get tournament details, draw sheets, and results.

News and Noteworthy ahead of the Event

Here’s a quick recap of notable news items of import to the tour or this event. It’s been several months since we had a domestic APP Event, so we have a slew of tour-level news to report.

• 3/25/26: Starting with this event, APP events will be Progressive draws, at least in its pro side. The senior pros will still play one-event per day, played to completion.
• 3/3/26: the APP announces a slew of Player signings, the first time they’ve ever done so publicly. They initially announce the signing of Quang Duong, Sofia Sewing, Bobbi Oshiro, Megan Fudge, and Jack Munro. Later in the day they announce more players: Richard Livornese, Roos Van Reek, Ryler DeHeart, Simone Jardim, Aiden Schenk, and Jill Braverman, essentially a who’s who of the current top-ranked APP players. They eventually announce more than 20 signed players over the next two days.
• 2/10/26: The APP’s new partnership with its international allies kicked off with the 2026 Leapmotor APP Kuala Lumpur Open. They also held events in Tokyo and in Ho Chi Minh City to start the season.
• 1/28/26: word spreads that the APP’s top female Sofia Sewing has signed with the UPA, with rumors that the deal is a Will Howells-esque contract that enabled him to play MLP and APP for a year before committing exclusively. This announcement enabled Sewing to be signed by the expansion MLP team Palm Beach Royals, but tour officials pushed back on the PPA’s announcement after a time, claiming Sewing had no such deal in place to leave the tour. This issue remains unresolved to the present day, with neither side pushing for a definitive answer.

With that said, let’s recap the action.

Men’s Pro Singles Recap

This event saw the return of APP No. 1 Ammar Wazir, who missed the big Tour Finals event in December. He wasn’t able to live up to his billing, getting taken in the round of 16 by eventual bronze medalist Tristan Dussault. The top seeds from the top half of the draw shook off jet lag to advance as expected to the semis, where Ronan Cameron set down the ageless Ryler DeHeart to make the final.

Meanwhile, the bottom half of the draw was upset-city. UVA grad, Richmond resident and instructor at my home club David Bieger, who made waves last fall with a defeat of Tyson McGuffin at a PPA event, went on a huge run, taking out No. 3 Dusty Boyer and Max Wild before falling to the eventual champion in the quarters.

The story of the event was Max Green. Ranked 14th on tour, Green had never medaled on tour. In Seattle, he took out No. 7 Brandon Lane, the youngster Bieger, the Cinderella Dussault, and then beat the top seed Camron to win gold.

Gold: Green. Silver: Camron. Bronze: Dussault.

Women’s Pro Singles Recap

With APP top seed Sewing sitting out singles this weekend, opportunities abounded for her competitors to the throne to gain ground on her in the rankings. True to form, the two top seeds ended up meeting in the final, with No. 1 seeded Kat Stewart taking out No. 2 seeded Bobbi Oshiro in a dominant 0,6 final.

Gold: Stewart. Silver: Oshiro. Bronze: Turkovic.

Mixed Pro Doubles Recap

Top seeds Munro & Sewing dominated the early parts of the international calendar for the APP, but once stateside they ran into trouble fast, losing to the experienced team of Max Manthou & Christine Maddox in the semis. Same with No. 2 seeds Megan Fudge & Richard Livornese, who have shown solid progress since teaming up to begin the year; they lost in the 16s to Emilia Schmidt & Richard Slutsky.

In the finals, Manthou & Maddox couldn’t face down a new force on the APP: Vivian Glozman & Casey Diamond. The No. 7 seeds cruised through the draw and dominated the final 7,2 for Glozman’s first medal on tour since Oct 2023.

Gold: Glozman & Diamond. Silver: Maddox & Manthou. Bronze: Oshiro & Blanco.

Men’s Pro Doubles Recap

After dominating in both Tokyo and in Vietnam, one might have expected the top seeds Jack Munro & Richard Livornese to pick right up where they left off. The field had other plans, and the top seeds went down early, losing in two close games in the quarters to Ammar Wazir & Mario Barrientos. This opened up the draw for the No. 3 seeds Aiden Schenk & Casey Diamond, who ran the tables and then beat the surprise finalists Andre Mick & Elliot Schupp in the final.

Gold: Diamond/Schenk. Silver: Mick/Schupp. Bronze: Manthou/Yu

Women’s Pro Doubles Recap

There were no upsets in the Women’s Pro Doubles draw, as top seeds and winners of the first three international events of the season Megan Fudge & Sofia Sewing cruised to the title. In the gold medal match, they topped Fudge’s long-time partner Jill Braverman, who is now with Emilia Schmidt.

Gold: Fudge & Sewing. Silver: Braverman & Schmidt. Bronze: Oshiro & Bates

AARP Champions Pro Competition Quick Recap

• Men’s Champions Pro Singles: Blake Arrant, fresh off a win two weeks ago in Texas, upset the top seed Bouzidi then took out No. 2 Jardim for a solid win.
• Women’s Champions Pro Singles: Lee Whitwell took out her biggest rival Karin Ptaszek-Kochis in a three game final to claim the first APP Champions singles title of the season.
• Men’s Champions Pro Doubles: Jamie Oncins/Marcello Jardim picked up where they left off last December and took the title.
• Women’s Champions Pro Doubles:
• Mixed Champions Pro Doubles: Sheri Courtier/Youssef Bouzidi improved on their bronze medal finish last December to take the crown.

AARP Masters Pro Competition 60+ Quick Recap

• Men’s Masters Pro Doubles: Steve Scurfield & Todd Murphy took the Masters 60+ title, beating two top seeds to do so.
• Women’s Masters Pro Doubles: Heather Iffert & Kelly Ojeda took the first Women’s 60+ title of the season.
• Mixed Masters Pro Doubles: Nathalie Bagby & Dan Granot outlasted the field for the title.

AARP Masters Pro Competition 65+ Quick Recap

The APP is adding a new 65+ division for 2026, in response to its players noting that there’s a significant difference between a 60-yr old competitor and a 65-yr old competitor. They had a Men’s and Mixed 65+ doubles event this weekend. This will be a new “tour” on the APP with separate rankings and prize money from the 60+ Masters division.

• Men’s Masters 65+ Pro Doubles: Paul Davis & Barry Mah took the inaugural 65+ Men’s Masters Pro Doubles division.
• Mixed Masters 65+ Pro Doubles: Barry Mah made it a double 65+ gold weekend by teaming with Barbara Dunne to claim the first Mixed 65+ pro title.

The Pro Pickleball Medal Tracker spreadsheets have now been updated with these results. Click here for the Pro-only Medal Tracker, and click here for the Senior Pro Medal Tracker. These spreadsheets hold Medal winners for every pro event going back to the beginnings of the tours.

Next up on the Pickleball Calendar? According to my Master Pickleball Schedule, the APP is heading back overseas next weekend for the Indian Open. They also have an event in Sydney and then Sacramento planned for April.

Any Head to Head or career match stats quoted in this article are courtesy of PickleWave. Visit picklewave.com for the premier source of Pro Pickleball data, including match replays, highlights, stats, and discussion. PickleWave has more than 31,000 matches in its database across all the pro tours.

Other resources I use frequently to cover Pickleball include: