 |
| Ben Johns |
Full Name: Benjamin Ellingham Johns | Current Status: Active professional pickleball player — World No. 1 in men's doubles and mixed doubles, competing on the PPA Tour and Major League Pickleball (LA Mad Drops)
When I started pulling official PPA Tour numbers for this piece, I honestly had to double-check the math twice. A player who has taken home more than 180 gold medals across singles, doubles, and mixed doubles didn't happen by accident — it happened because a homeschooled kid from Maryland picked up a paddle on a Florida vacation in 2016 and never really lost again.
Biography Summary
Ben Johns is the most decorated player in the history of professional pickleball, and by most measures, in the history of any racquet sport measured by title share. He holds the No. 1 world ranking in men's doubles and mixed doubles on the PPA Tour, and he's held some combination of the top spot across all three disciplines — singles, doubles, and mixed — for most of the period since 2020.
What separates Johns from the pack isn't raw power. It's the two-handed backhand he brought over from his junior tennis days, paired with a game built on cutting down unforced errors rather than hunting highlight-reel winners. Opponents don't beat Johns by out-hitting him. They beat him by outlasting his patience, and that almost never happens.
He's also become one of the sport's most visible entrepreneurs, co-owning three pickleball-adjacent businesses while his signature JOOLA paddle line remains one of the best-selling in the category.
Early Life
Johns was born March 18, 1999, in Gaithersburg, Maryland, and raised in nearby Laytonsville. He was homeschooled for most of his education, which — by his own account in later interviews — gave him extra hours to train. Before pickleball existed on his radar, Johns was a serious tennis and table tennis player, often hitting with his older brother Collin, who went on to play on the ATP tennis tour before also becoming a top-ranked pro pickleball player.
The origin story is almost too clean to be true: 17-year-old Ben picked up a paddle for the first time on a family trip near Naples, Florida, in 2016. Within months he was entering his first professional event, the U.S. Open Pickleball Championships, and finished fifth in Men's Pro Singles. That result alone would be a career highlight for most players. For Johns, it was the opening chapter.
He went on to earn a Bachelor's degree in Materials Science & Engineering from the University of Maryland, balancing coursework with a pro tour schedule that most engineering students would find unthinkable.
Professional Career
Johns' rise from unranked newcomer to the winningest player in tour history took less than three years — a timeline that still doesn't have a real comparison in the sport.
Breakthrough (2016–2019)
After his fifth-place finish at the 2016 U.S. Open, Johns won his first gold medal at the Riverbend RV Resort Pickleball Tournament in 2017, then returned to the U.S. Open the same year and took gold in Men's Pro Singles. He added three golds at the Canadian Nationals shortly after, and by 2019 he had done something no male player had ever done: won a Triple Crown — gold in singles, doubles, and mixed doubles at the same event — at the Tournament of Champions in Brigham City, Utah.
That same year, he strung together a 108-match winning streak in singles play, a tour record that still stands, and went undefeated across 22 consecutive mixed doubles tournaments.
Peak Dominance (2020–2024)
Johns repeated his Triple Crown feat at the U.S. Open in both 2021 and 2022, giving him three career Triple Crowns at majors before most players in the sport had won a single gold medal. His doubles partnership with brother Collin produced 31 PPA gold medals over roughly four years together, while his mixed doubles run with Anna Leigh Waters became arguably the most dominant pairing the sport has seen — 16 consecutive mixed doubles titles between March 2023 and February 2024 alone.
In April 2022, Johns signed with JOOLA, ending a three-year deal with Franklin Sports, and helped design the brand's first pickleball paddle line. By 2024, he'd crossed the 100-title mark on the PPA Tour — a milestone the tour itself flagged as a first.
New Partnerships and MLP (2025–Present)
2025 brought real change. Johns ended his long-running doubles partnership with Collin and paired up with Gabe Tardio, a partnership that reached championship Sunday in essentially every event they entered together through the 2025 Bristol Open, losing the final only twice. In July 2025, a three-team trade sent Johns from the Carolina Hogs to the Los Angeles Mad Drops in Major League Pickleball, where he's remained for the 2026 season — leading LA to an undefeated opening weekend at MLP Dallas in 2026.
His mixed doubles partnership with Anna Leigh Waters has continued to be one of the most one-sided team records in sports: a combined match record north of 250-6 together heading into 2026.
Career Timeline
| Year | Milestone |
|---|---|
| 2016 | Discovers pickleball at 17; finishes 5th in Men's Pro Singles at his first U.S. Open |
| 2017 | First gold medal (Riverbend RV Resort); U.S. Open singles gold; three golds at Canadian Nationals |
| 2019 | First male Triple Crown at a major (Tournament of Champions); 108-match singles win streak |
| 2021 | U.S. Open Triple Crown; appears on Live with Kelly and Ryan with brother Collin |
| 2022 | Signs with JOOLA; second U.S. Open Triple Crown |
| 2023–2024 | 16 straight mixed doubles titles with Anna Leigh Waters; passes 100 career PPA gold medals |
| 2025 | New doubles partnership with Gabe Tardio; traded to LA Mad Drops in MLP |
| 2026 | No. 1 world ranking in men's doubles and mixed doubles; leads LA Mad Drops to undefeated MLP opening weekend |
Major Achievements
No player in pickleball history comes close to matching Johns' title volume across all three disciplines simultaneously — a big reason analysts and the tour itself routinely call him the greatest to play the sport.
- 185+ career PPA Tour gold medals across singles, doubles, and mixed doubles
- 21 career Triple Crowns — the next closest male player, Tyson McGuffin, has one
- 108-match winning streak in men's singles, a standing tour record
- 16 consecutive mixed doubles titles with Anna Leigh Waters (2023–2024)
- Held the No. 1 ranking in all three PPA divisions simultaneously for most of the period since 2020
Awards & Honors
- Widely recognized by the PPA Tour and pickleball media as the sport's greatest player of all time
- Youngest player ever to reach the PPA Tour's No. 1 world ranking
- Featured guest appearance on ABC's Live with Kelly and Ryan (2021)
Career Statistics
| Division | Rank | Gold | Silver | Bronze | Total Medals |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Men's Doubles | No. 1 | 64 | 11 | 6 | 81 |
| Mixed Doubles | No. 1 | 79 | 5 | 2 | 86 |
| Men's Singles | No. 25 | 42 | 3 | 4 | 49 |
Figures reflect official PPA Tour career statistics as of early 2026. Johns has scaled back his singles schedule in recent seasons to focus on doubles and mixed doubles, which explains the lower singles ranking relative to his medal count.
Records
- Longest men's singles winning streak in PPA Tour history: 108 matches (2019)
- Most career Triple Crowns by any player, male or female: 21
- Longest consecutive mixed doubles title streak: 16 (with Anna Leigh Waters, 2023–2024)
- Fastest player to reach 100 career PPA gold medals
Net Worth
Ben Johns has never publicly disclosed an exact net worth figure, and reputable, audited numbers simply don't exist for pickleball players the way they do in the NBA or NFL. What I found digging through multiple financial breakdowns is a wide spread — anywhere from roughly $2 million to $10 million — depending on how aggressively each source counts future paddle royalties and business equity.
The one grounded data point comes from Johns himself, who told CNBC he earned approximately $2.5 million in 2024 from prize money, appearance fees, and sponsorships combined. A more recent 2026 breakdown estimated his gross earnings closer to $4.8 million for the year before taxes, travel, and staff costs. Given his JOOLA paddle royalties, MLP contract value, and three side businesses, a net worth in the $3–6 million range is the most defensible estimate — though treat any specific number you see online as an approximation, not a fact.
Gear & Equipment
Johns has played JOOLA paddles exclusively since his 2022 signing, and his signature line has evolved through several generations — Hyperion CFS 16, Perseus CFS, Perseus 3S, Perseus Pro IV, and now the JOOLA Perseus Pro V, his current tour paddle.
- Paddle: JOOLA Perseus Pro V, available in 16mm (8.1 oz) or 14mm (7.9 oz) core thickness
- Grip circumference: 4.25 inches — Johns' preferred size across generations
- Shape: Elongated Perseus profile for extended reach at the kitchen line
- Technology: KineticFrame construction for added reach, consistency, and ball placement
Earlier in his JOOLA career, Johns was known to weight up stock paddles with lead tape — pushing an 8-ounce paddle closer to 8.5 ounces for extra plow-through on drives — though his current signature models come tuned closer to his preferred playing weight out of the box.
Playing Style
Johns built his game around eliminating mistakes before he ever worries about creating them. His two-handed backhand — a carryover from his junior tennis days — lets him generate topspin and drive the ball with a stability that's difficult to replicate one-handed. Rather than forcing speed-ups at every opportunity, he waits for genuinely high-percentage looks, targeting an opponent's hip and body angle to restrict their swing before committing to an aggressive shot.
His court coverage and ability to change pace mid-rally are what opposing pros consistently point to as the hardest thing to game-plan against. He's also confirmed cross-dominant — meaning he naturally favors different hands for different physical tasks — which some analysts credit for his unusually smooth transition between forehand and two-handed backhand mechanics.
Injuries and Challenges
Compared to many pro athletes, Johns has had a relatively clean injury history over his career, which partly explains the volume of matches and tournaments he's able to play across three divisions in a single weekend. His more visible challenges have come from partnership transitions — the 2025 split from longtime doubles partner Collin Johns and the subsequent adjustment period with new partner Gabe Tardio required rebuilding chemistry at the top of the sport in real time, in front of a much larger audience than pickleball had a few years earlier.
Training, Diet & Fitness
Johns has spoken about weightlifting as a regular part of his training regimen, alongside cross-training in other racquet and precision sports — padel, table tennis, badminton, and even golf — that reinforce hand-eye coordination and footwork transferable to pickleball. His engineering background also shows up in how he talks about his own game: he's described his shot selection in terms of probability and expected value rather than instinct, treating each rally like an optimization problem.
Personal Life
Johns keeps his personal life notably private for someone at the top of a fast-growing sport. He's the brother of fellow pro Collin Johns and has a sister, Hannah, who works as a sideline reporter on the PPA Tour broadcast. Persistent rumors linking him romantically to mixed doubles partner Anna Leigh Waters are false — the two are competitive partners only, and Johns has not publicly confirmed a relationship as of 2026. Outside of competition, his listed hobbies include reading, investing, and playing chess and Magic: The Gathering.
Official Social Media Profiles
Legacy
It's genuinely hard to overstate what Johns has done to the sport's competitive ceiling. When he turned pro in 2016, pickleball didn't have national television deals, million-dollar MLP contracts, or a serious professional infrastructure. By the time he racked up his 100th tour gold medal less than a decade later, all of that existed — partly because his dominance gave broadcasters, sponsors, and casual fans a singular storyline to follow.
His two-handed backhand has also become a technical trend other pros are now adopting, which is a rare thing in any sport: a player's individual mechanics reshaping how the next generation trains.
Interesting Facts
- Johns' full name is Benjamin Ellingham Johns.
- He played competitive tennis and table tennis before ever touching a pickleball paddle.
- He first played pickleball at age 17 on a family vacation near Naples, Florida.
- He holds a Bachelor's degree in Materials Science & Engineering from the University of Maryland.
- His 108-match singles winning streak remains an unbroken tour record.
- He's the only male player with more than one career Triple Crown — he has 21.
- He co-owns three pickleball businesses: Pickleball Getaways, Pickleball 360, and Johns Design & Consulting.
- He directly helped design his own JOOLA paddle line, starting with the original Hyperion CFS 16 in 2022.
- His older brother Collin was his doubles partner for nearly four years before their 2025 split.
- He is cross-dominant, naturally favoring different hands for different physical tasks.
- He appeared alongside Collin in a live pickleball exhibition on ABC's Live with Kelly and Ryan in 2021.
- He was traded to the LA Mad Drops in one of the largest trades in Major League Pickleball history.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is Ben Johns the greatest pickleball player of all time?
Most tour officials and analysts consider him the greatest player in the sport's history, based on his 185+ PPA gold medals, 21 Triple Crowns, and his 108-match singles win streak — all tour records.
What paddle does Ben Johns use?
He plays the JOOLA Perseus Pro V, his current signature paddle, available in 16mm and 14mm core thicknesses with a 4.25-inch grip.
What is Ben Johns' net worth?
There's no officially confirmed figure, but based on his reported 2024 income of roughly $2.5 million and his JOOLA and business income, reasonable estimates put his net worth between $3 million and $6 million.
Who does Ben Johns play doubles with now?
Since early 2025, his men's doubles partner has been Gabe Tardio. His mixed doubles partner remains Anna Leigh Waters, one of the most dominant pairings in the sport's history.
What MLP team does Ben Johns play for?
He plays for the Los Angeles Mad Drops, following a trade from the Carolina Hogs in July 2025.
Where did Ben Johns go to college?
He earned a Bachelor's degree in Materials Science & Engineering from the University of Maryland.
Conclusion
What stands out most after going through Johns' career year by year isn't any single trophy — it's the consistency. A decade in, he's still the player every new pro on tour has to figure out how to beat, and most still haven't.
Between the paddle deals, the businesses, and the new partnership with Gabe Tardio, 2026 looks like another chapter rather than a wind-down. I'd love to know what stands out to you most about his game — was it the 108-match streak, the Triple Crown run with Anna Leigh Waters, or something you watched live? Drop your thoughts in the comments.
If you've followed Johns' career longer than I have, or caught one of his matches in person, I'd genuinely like to hear about it. What's your favorite Ben Johns moment, and do you think his win streak record ever gets broken?
