The PPA Tour's Virginia Beach Open returns to Birdneck Road this week with a twist nobody saw a year ago: the sport's two biggest names, Anna Leigh Waters and Ben Johns, are nowhere on the entry list. That means every one of the tournament's five professional divisions is guaranteed to crown someone new, a scenario that hasn't played out at this event before.
A Star-Studded Absence Opens the Door
The Mojo Energy Pouches Virginia Beach Open runs October 12 through 18 at Pickleball Virginia Beach, according to the Carvana PPA Tour. The event carries a total payout of $1,063,327 and awards 1,000 ranking points to the champion in each of its five divisions, per the same event page. As The Virginian-Pilot reports, this marks the third Virginia Beach Open, and the tournament's facility sits on Birdneck Road in Virginia Beach, with 818 players registered according to pickleballtournaments.com.
Anna Leigh Waters, the 19-year-old who lives in Boynton Beach, Florida, is taking a break from competition at this event, per the Virginian-Pilot's reporting. She went unbeaten at the Virginia Beach Open in both 2024 and 2025 and has won triple crowns there twice, part of a career total of 45 triple crowns in which she swept the singles, women's doubles and mixed doubles brackets each time. She earned her 200th professional gold medal at the 1,500-point Chicago Open last weekend, the paper noted, though last season's Virginia Beach Open paid her just $12,330 in prize money — a modest sum next to the millions in endorsements she's amassed. Ben Johns is also sitting out; as pickleball.com put it, “No Anna Leigh Waters and no Ben Johns means it is anyone's tournament to make a mark.”
Title Defenses That Won't Happen
Neither of last year's singles or men's doubles champions is back to defend. Chris Haworth, the reigning singles champion and world No. 14, is not seeking to repeat, per the Virginian-Pilot. Gabriel Tardio and Ben Johns, who won the 2025 men's doubles title, are likewise not returning to defend that crown. The Virginia Beach Open ranks as the PPA's third-highest tournament category as a 1,000-point event, and this is the third straight year it has carried a different title sponsor, with Mojo Energy Pouches now in that role.
A tournament preview from The Dink framed the absences bluntly, noting that Waters, Johns, Hayden Patriquin and Anna Bright are all skipping the event, creating room for lower-ranked players to climb the rankings. The preview specifically flagged that Waters and Bright are both missing from the women's doubles draw. The mixed doubles bracket alone drew 48 registered teams, according to the tournament organizer cited in the same preview.
Who's Seeded to Win It
Roscoe Bellamy enters as the No. 1 seed in men's singles after winning the division at the Chicago Open, with Noe Khlif, Jack Sock and Jaume Martinez Vich rounding out the top of that bracket, according to The Dink's seeding breakdown. Sock, seeded fifth per the Virginian-Pilot's numbering, is a former world No. 1 in tennis doubles making his mark in a new sport. John Lucian Goins also sits among the men's singles contenders, and The Dink's staff projected him to beat Bellamy for his third singles title, though that remains a preview pick rather than a result.
On the women's side, Kate Fahey tops the singles bracket after finishing as runner-up in Chicago, with Brooke Buckner, last year's finalist against Waters at 34 years old, seeded second. Genie Bouchard, the Canadian former 2014 Wimbledon singles runner-up, enters as the No. 8 seed. In doubles, Catherine Parenteau and Sofia Sewing head the women's field as the top seeds, with Parenteau entering as the highest-ranked woman in the field at world No. 7. Andrei Daescu, the highest-ranked man in the field at world No. 6, teams with Meghan Dizon as the top mixed doubles seed. The Dink's preview projected Parenteau and Sewing to beat Cailyn Campbell and Meghan Dizon in the women's doubles final, though that too is a forecast rather than a locked outcome. In men's doubles, CJ Klinger — last year's runner-up alongside JW Johnson — is seeded No. 1 this time with new partner Eric Oncins.
Watching the Action
PickleballTV coverage begins Thursday, October 15. Tennis Channel picks up national broadcast coverage from Thursday through Sunday. Professional action begins with the Round of 64 on October 13, followed by the Round of 32 on October 14, and runs through championship finals on October 18, the tour's event page states. The main draw begins Tuesday, October 13. Amateur matches will be played alongside the Championship Court action where the top professionals compete, according to that same listing. Parking for spectators is available at Ocean Breeze Waterpark for $10 per day, and tickets remain available through ppatour.com.
