Who are the best Pro Pickelballers going into 2023? Great question, and one that is still up for serious debate, depending on what organization you look at. The pickleball world does not have a single unified body, overseeing rankings yet, nor do the disparate organizations use the same criteria to rank players, so it is still messy and ambiguous if you try to name the top players today.

The Wonderful World of Rating Systems

We have a lot of ranking systems in play today, but let me break down the major ones for you here. Each publishes its own World Pickleball Rankings list, but each is different so the lists they generate do not always match.

Let’s start out with the USA Pickleball Association (USAP) which uses the UTPR (USA Pickleball Tournament Player Ratings) system, which tracks tournament results sanctioned by the USAP. Any play outside of those tournaments is considered recreational.

Next up we have The Professional Pickleball Association (PPA). They prefer the DUPR (Dreamland Universal Pickleball Rating) system, which tracks the outcomes of matches as reported by the players.

Followed by World Pickleball Rankings (WPR), which has worked with all of the major pickleball organizations to try and consolidate ranks. Currently, WPR is recognized in all USA Pickleball tournaments, as well as all major independent tournaments including the US Open Pickleball Championships and Tournament of Champions, The World Pickleball Rankings are recognized by USA Pickleball, the APP tour, and the US Open Pickleball Championships as their official rankings provider.

Then comes the APP the Pro Tour Partner of USAP, who as mentioned above, prefers the DUPR system for ranking players.

Luckily, the USAP is trying to unify the rating system by setting up the USAP Ratings Improvement Project, a seven-person task force chartered to find a standard for ranking players. 

So, as you can tell, there is still some consolidation/evolution needed to gain a clear understanding of the true top-ranked pros, but it’s coming together. Since we have a large majority of the pickleball world leaning into the WPR system, we will rely on those rankings for this article. Remember, this is just a snapshot in time, and as 2023 progresses the rankings will change as tournaments are completed.

Men’s Doubles World Ranking 

So, keep in mind that we are referring to the WPR system to identify the top players in each category, here.

So, these top 10 Men’s Doubles players for 2023:

1. Collin Johns
2. Ben Johns
3. Jw Johnson
4. Riley Newman
5. Matt Wright
6. Dekel Bar
7. Dylan Frazier
8. Andrei Daescu
9. Zane Navratil
10. AJ Koller

Women’s Doubles Pickleball World Ranking 

Next, here are the top 10 Men’s Doubles players for 2023:

1. Anna Leigh Waters
2. Andrea Koop
3. Anna Bright
4. Catherine Parenteau
5. Lucy Kovalova
6. Callie Smith
7. Simone Jardim
8. Leigh Waters
9. Parris Todd
10. Jorja Johnson

Mixed Doubles Pickleball World Ranking 

The top ten mixed doubles players:

Men

1. Ben Johns
2. Jw Johnson
3. Riley Newman
4. Zane Navratil
5. Dylan Frazier
6. Dekel Bar
7. Matt Wright
8. Jay Devilliers
9. AJ Koller
10. Tyson McGuffin

Women

1. Anna Leigh Waters
2. Catherine Parenteau
3. Simone Jardim
4. Andrea Koop
5. Jorja Johnson
6. Jessie Irvine
7. Vivienne David
8. Lucy Kovalova
9. Lee Whitwell
10. Anna Bright
    

Men’s Singles Pickleball World Ranking 

The top ten mixed doubles players:

1. Jw Johnson
2. Ben Johns
3. Federico Staksrud
4. Zane Navratil
5. Tyson McGuffin
6. Julian Arnold
7. Dylan Frazier
8. Hunter Johnson
9. James Ignatowich
10. Jay Devilliers

Women’s Singles Pickleball World Ranking

The top women’s singles players:

1. ​Anna Leigh Waters
2. Salome Devidze
3. Lea Jansen
4. Anna Bright
5. Catherine Parenteau
6. Parris Todd
7. Jorja Johnson
8. Megan Fudge
9. Callie Smith
10. Irina Tereschenko

Ranking Wrap Up

Well, I imagine the first thing on your mind is – “Where is my name”. Well, if your name is not Anna Leigh or Ben J, my advice is to get out there and play more professional pickleball tournaments. The more pro tournaments you play, and the more winning gold you bring home, the more likely I will be putting your name up, as we update the pro’s progress. Just like the pros, you can play and climb the ranks of pickleball legends, with your awards based on your conquests on the court. Play the best players, beat the best players and we will see your name up here in lights.

So, who’s with me? Who is looking to climb the ladder and find their name listed as one of the pickleball pros? Looking forward to mentioning you in the years to come!