Megan Fudge steps in front of partner Jill Braverman to hit a backhand volley winner shot against opponents Simone Jardim and Christine Maddox in the Pro Women ' s Doubles finals match.
PHOTO BY MARK DANCHO; IG: @ YEUNGPHOTOGRAPHY
Casey Diamond and Sofia Sewing approach the non-volley zone in preparation for a drive shot from opponents Jack Munro and Megan Fudge in the Pro Mixed Doubles semi‐finals match.
PHOTO BY BRUCE YEUNG; IG: @ YEUNGPHOTOGRAPHY hours a day leading up to this event, and luckily it all paid off for us,” said Diamond, a former tennis pro in Charleston, South Carolina, who began playing pickleball roughly two-and-a-half years ago.
After losing the 2024 Men’ s Pro Singles final to Chris Haworth, Patrick Kawka knew he had the experience now to handle the big stage and capture the title that eluded him a year ago.
The Polish native entered this year’ s USA Pickleball National Championships as the No. 2 seed and didn’ t drop more than 4 points in a game leading up to the semifinals, where he faced Naveen Beasley.
After a tough first semifinal game, winning 11-9, Kawka moved into the finals by winning the second game 11-5. He would face the topseeded Ronan Camron, who had a much tougher time getting to the marquee match.
In his semifinal against Brandon Lane, Camron bookended 11-3 wins, dropping the middle game 12-10.
After losing the first game in the finals 11-6, Kawka became more aggressive, moving well, and blanked Camron in game two 11-0. At championship point in the third and final game, Camron sailed a backhand wide, putting Kawka atop the medal stand this year.
“ I kind of wait on Nationals all year. My body is not quite what it used to be at my age, so I save myself for certain tournaments and I love Nationals,” said the 36-year-old Kawka.“ After last year’ s experience in Mesa, I was looking forward to this year’ s event for quite some time.”
One of the all-time great names in sports— Purple Jesus Manthou— was paired with Erik Lange for the Pro Men’ s Doubles action. The duo went up against Munro and Richard Livornese, and after dropping the
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NOVEMBER / DECEMBER 2025 | MAGAZINE 31