NATURE’ S SUNSHINE CHAMPIONSHIP COURT WAS A WONDERFUL STAGE FOR PICKLEBALL’ S TOP ATHLETES DURING THE BIGGEST TOURNAMENT IN HISTORY. winningest player with her 168th career title.
“ I’ m feeling so much gratitude, so much happiness. This was 3,000 [ ranking points ], so if there’ s one tournament I wanted to win a Triple Crown at, it was definitely this one,” said Waters, shortly after defeating Kate Fahey in straight games to cap off Championship Sunday in style.
“ You never know when it’ s going to be your last Triple Crown, so every time I really try to cherish the moment. I just put so much pressure on myself for this week, really wanting to do well and fighting through a lot of different things, so I’ m really proud.”
On the men’ s side, Federico Staksrud reclaimed the No. 1 spot in men’ s singles with a victory over Chris Haworth, who had built major momentum with wins against Christian Alshon, Dylan Frazier, and Hunter Johnson.
Staksrud also partnered with Hayden Patriquin to take men’ s doubles gold, defeating JW Johnson and CJ Klinger on Nature’ s Sunshine Championship Court. However, it was their upset victory over Johns and Gabe Tardio on Semifinal Saturday that was the proverbial cherry on top.
Johns and Tardio, the top seeds, entered the matchup riding a streak of six straight golds and were widely expected to reign supreme again.
“ It’ s been a tough year in doubles, and I worked so hard for this. I’ m just so happy that we get to do this, and I have so much respect for Ben and Gabe. They’ re great players,” shared a visibly emotional Staksrud.
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NOVEMBER / DECEMBER 2025 | MAGAZINE 37