More professional pickleball is coming to the Coachella Valley, with the Carvana PPA Masters at Mission Hills kicking off Thursday and running through Sunday, Jan. 15.
Some of the world’s top pro players, including Ben Johns, Anna Leigh Waters, Riley Newman and Catherine Parenteau, are expected to play. Johns will also play doubles alongside his brother, Collin. The event is billed as a “Wimbledon-esque” tournament featuring all-white apparel.
Thursday’s pro events will be men’s and women’s singles. Friday is mixed doubles, Saturday is men’s and women’s doubles and the championship is Sunday. There’s $238,314 in prize money for the pros, but there’s also action for amateurs as well.
A Round Robin Scramble for players rated 3.0 to 3.5 is set for 5 p.m. Thursday. The cost to enter is $15.42 and no partner is needed. Entrants will play four rounds of 12 minutes, each with a different partner and against a different pair of opponents.
For more advanced amateurs, there’s a “Best of the Best 4.0+” on Saturday from 5 p.m. to 8 p.m. The cost to enter is $33.93. The format is three hours of continuous play with three rounds. The first round is a “sorting round” where each player will play a game with the other players in your initial group. The groups for the second round will be determined on where you finished in the first round of games.
For Round 3, the top two players from each court move up and the bottom two players move down.
The top player on the top court after the third round will be crowned “The Best of the Best.”
A four-day grounds pass is $80, courtside is $130 and VIP pass is $700. Less expensive single-day tickets are also available. To sit on championship court, a courtside or VIP ticket is required.
For more information or to buy tickets, visit https://www.tixr.com/groups/ppa/events/ppa-masters-53187. The competition can also be watched on the Tennis Channel and Carvana PPA TV.