Anna Leigh Waters went 36–2 in women’s doubles and 31–6 in mixed across the 2026 MLP season. Those two numbers explain the MVP award, and they are worth sitting with for a moment.
A 36–2 record is a 94.7% win rate in a league of professionals. In mixed, 31–6 is 83.8%. Across both disciplines that is 67 wins against 8 losses. There is no reasonable argument about the award.
The 2026 award winners
| Award | Winner |
|---|---|
| Most Valuable Player | Anna Leigh Waters |
| Most Improved Player | Kate Fahey |
| Rookie of the Year | Sofia Sewing |
| General Manager of the Year | Johnny Goldberg |
| Best Trade | Federico Staksrud to New Jersey |
The All-MLP teams
| Team | Players |
|---|---|
| First | Anna Leigh Waters, Anna Bright, JW Johnson, Christian Alshon |
| Second | Jorja Johnson, Kate Fahey, Gabe Tardio, Hayden Patriquin |
| Third | Tina Pisnik, Parris Todd, Ben Johns, Augie Ge |
The one that will get argued about
Ben Johns on the third team. That is not a slight so much as a statement about how MLP scores value: the league rewards consistency across four games a night in three disciplines, and it does not care much about a reputation built in singles and tournament doubles. Whether that makes the All-MLP teams a better measure or a narrower one is the argument, and it is a good one.
Source: awards, All-MLP teams and season records as reported by Pickleball.com. Win-rate percentages are our own arithmetic on those records.
Leave a Reply