Ben Johns competing at the Veolia Cape Coral Open presented by Proton.
Ben Johns competing at the Veolia Cape Coral Open presented by Proton. PPA Tour

Back on top: B. Johns regains No. 1 PPA men's doubles ranking after Texas title

For the first time since August, Ben Johns is back in the top spot in the PPA men’s doubles rankings.

Since he last held that spot during the week of 8/19/24, players like Collin Johns, Dylan Frazier, and Federico Staksrud have all stood atop of the rankings.

That status most recently belonged to Staksrud, who overtook C. Johns after the PPA Masters in January.

After he and Gabe Tardio earned their first title as a partnership in Texas, Johns is back on top.

 

The PPA rankings (different from The Race, which calculates points earned from January to December of each year) operate on a rolling 52-week system. A player’s point total is calculated from their best 16 tournament results within the past 52 weeks.

Let’s get into how the numbers work with Johns and Staksrud.

Going into last week’s CIBC PPA Texas Open presented by Fasenra, Johns had 15,800 points. He was protecting 400 points after a fourth-place finish in the Lone Star State last year, so his title in 2025 netted him 1000 points and a net increase of 600 points.

That brings him to 16,400 points now.

Staksrud occupied the top spot in the rankings coming into Texas with 15,900 points. He wasn’t protecting any points from this tournament from last year because his Round of 16 finish wasn’t one of his 16 best results over the last 52 weeks.

Therefore, all 800 points he earned with his runner-up finish in 2025 go towards his total, which brings him up to 16,700 points and would keep him ahead of Johns.

There’s a wrinkle here, however.

The 2024 Veolia Austin Open took place one year and a week ago, so the points that players earned from that tournament fell off this week.

That didn’t impact Johns at all because his quarterfinal finish wasn’t one of his sixteen best over the past year, but it did impact Staksrud.

Staksrud had 500 points from that tournament after he and Pablo Tellez split the bronze medal with JW Johnson and Dylan Frazier.

Those 500 points rolling off—combined with the 800 points Staksrud gained from his silver in North Texas, bring his total to 16,200 points.

With Johns and 16,400 points and Staksrud at 16,200, Johns officially reclaims the top ranking in men’s doubles.

He may not keep it for long, though.

Due to early exits from the event in 2024, neither Johns nor Staksrud is defending any points coming into this year’s Black Desert Resort Red Rock Open.

Johns isn’t even competing in the event because he and other top JOOLA pros (including Anna Bright, Tyson McGuffin, Brooke Buckner, Collin Johns, Chao Yi Wang) will be in Asia during that time for the JOOLA Pickleball Legends Tour.

Staksrud, on the other hand, will participate in the event and be the top seed in men’s doubles with Hayden Patriquin.

 

There’s a strong chance that the Argentine will get back to the No. 1 ranking if gets to the semifinals in Utah.

Action from the Beehive State kicks off on March 26, with coverage on Pickleballtv.