his girlfriend ( and one big reason he loves her ), his obsession with a trading card game and the fantasy genre , the only person he idolizes , his favorite food ( he ’ s a major foodie ) and TV shows .
Johns embraces being the best . When he emerged as the top-ranked player , his father , Mark , told him , “ There are very few people who get to be on the verge of a sport that ’ s burgeoning and you get to ride that wave of a sport becoming a very big thing from a very small thing , and that ’ s rare for anyone to experience .”
Johns says he doesn ’ t feel pressure to win every match . “ It ’ s more that I know I can win every match , and to some extent I expect to win every match . You of course cannot be perfect , and you cannot win every match , but those are my expectations in any given match .”
His pregame routine is mostly warm-up based , as he puts it : “ Movement — lateral , forward , backward , various band work , dynamic stretching … I don ’ t really have any mental routines other than to be prepared .”
When Johns loses , pickleball pundits looking for a chink in his armor say he ’ s on the way down . “ I personally don ’ t really read or watch or care about any of that ,” he says . “ It doesn ’ t really matter what other people think or what other people want .”
At the end of 2024 , Johns was No . 2 in the PPA ’ s Men ’ s Singles rankings behind Argentina ’ s Federico Staksrud , No . 1 with his brother Collin in Men ’ s Doubles , and No . 1 in Mixed Doubles , playing alongside Anna Leigh Waters — establishing the top mixed doubles pair in the sport .
In December , Johns announced a new men ’ s doubles partner , 19-year-old Bolivian sensation Gabe Tardio .
“ Collin and I have achieved so much as a team together , and I ’ m really proud of what we ’ ve accomplished ,” he says . “ Changeups in life and in sports can be a refreshing thing . We feel like this decision will help us find new purpose , create variety , and reengage us in the sport we love so much . This is not necessarily the end of our partnership for good , just a healthy adjustment for the time being . We ’ ll always be brothers first and part of each other ’ s pickleball legacy . We ’ re excited to see what 2025 holds for both of us .”
Johns is figuring things out about his future , and playing pickleball is only part of the plan .
“ I have a theory that the more experiences you have , the more you ’ re living life , so I never want to spend too much time doing the same thing , even as amazing as pickleball is ,” he explains .
Johns grew up in the small Maryland town of Laytonsville ( population 572 ) on a 12-acre lot that included a dirt tennis court and tennis practice facilities in a barn . His father is a software designer . The seven
Johns children were homeschooled by their mother , who stressed reading , nature and organic learning .
As a 16- and 17-year-old , Johns earned college credits at a community college then enrolled in business school at Maryland . After one year , he changed his major to Materials Science and Engineering . “ I figured out that in business school they emphasize it ’ s who you know , not what you know — and I understand that ’ s definitely true — but I came to school to learn things , not meet people necessarily ,” he recalls . “ I want to learn very real things and I thought , ‘ This major is going to do that for me .’” He graduated in 2022 with a 3.81 GPA .
Johns lives in Austin , Texas , with his girlfriend of nearly two and a half years . Collin and Hannah live nearby . Ben is a major foodie and says of his girlfriend , “ She is the best cook I ’ ve met . She makes the best dinners .” He adds with a laugh , “ It ’ s why I date her .” They met through mutual friends . She didn ’ t know who Johns was and he liked that . “ She doesn ’ t play pickleball and doesn ’ t really watch it or know anything about it , to be honest .”
Johns ’ enjoyment of researching how things work extends to his eating habits . He not only reads restaurant reviews on Yelp and Google , he keeps a list of his favorite restaurants in every city in which he plays . “ I ’ m a big fan of reviews and making sure your meals are good . There ’ s never a reason to have a bad meal .”
Asian food is his favorite . Although he lives in barbecue-mad Texas , Johns says , “ I don ’ t love barbecue mostly because it ’ s all similar and it ’ s pretty heavy .” He enjoys making spinach dip and chili that his sister Hannah raves about . He mostly avoids junk food , and at 6 ’ 1 ” keeps his weight at 190 , but admits to having a longtime addiction to Goldfish crackers .
When Johns returns home after a tournament , he and his girlfriend don ’ t discuss pickleball : “ She ’ s like , ‘ Hey , I ’ m ready to make dinner and then let ’ s do something fun .’ You know , that ’ s what I appreciate .”
Johns also admits to an obsession with the fantasy trading card game Magic : The Gathering . He says , “ It ’ s a very complex , complicated game that I picked up when I was 11 . I was pretty much obsessed with it and played it non-stop from 11 to 17 .” He still plays when he can . The game is online , so his opponents have no idea who they ’ re playing against .
His taste in television shows and books skews heavily toward the fantasy genre as well . His favorite show is “ Game of Thrones ,” and he ’ s read all the books in the related series . “ I ’ m a very thorough fantasy book reader ,” Johns says . For lighter fare he enjoys the sitcom “ New Girl .”
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JANUARY / FEBRUARY 2025 | MAGAZINE 31