Ben and Collin Johns are parting ways following the upcoming Zimmer Biomet Masters powered by Invited, so speculation has been running rampant about possible replacements for the remainder of the 2025 season.

And it didn’t take Ben long to choose a new primary men's doubles partner.

The most decorated pickleball athlete of all-time will play the majority of the PPA Tour schedule alongside Gabe Tardio, whose achievements over the last 12 months certainly caught his attention.

The 19-year-old Bolivian enjoyed an outstanding 2024 campaign with seven medals in men's doubles (4 gold, 3 silver) and two medals in mixed doubles (1 gold, 1 silver).

“Gabe was certainly kind of my first call. I contacted him first and was like, ‘Are you available? Do you want to play?’ He was definitely interested and wanted to,” said Johns on the latest episode of The Hannah Johns Podcast. “I think you will see us play a good amount of the year. Gabe was the first call.”

It wasn’t exactly a tough decision for Johns.

He knows first-hand that Tardio is the real deal.

“How I do most of my analysis as far as playing with people goes is really just how difficult is it for me to play against them? That’s usually how I just kind of have my best benchmark or measure of players. I think in the past year, Gabe has definitely been the most difficult player for me to play. I think he just applies a lot of pressure. He makes people make errors. He attacks really well in so many different positions,” praised Johns. “You can definitely feel his presence. He’s a shot-maker and he’s competitive. He’s got everything you’d want in a partner.”

Talk about a ringing endorsement. 

Johns is looking forward to being around Tardio’s youthful enthusiasm on a regular basis and seeing the partnership grow organically as the campaign rolls on. 

“Being young [like Tardio] is great for a lot of reasons. Of course you have energy, have a ton of drive, and you’re just thirsting to get wins basically, which is huge,” said Johns. “As far as kind of molding a partnership goes, I guess that wasn’t too much of a thought. I certainly think it can happen, but I think he’s done a great job of molding himself into a player that is desirable to play with. Honestly, I don’t like to mess too much with what people are doing naturally.”

 

 

 

 

 

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Nevertheless, adjustments will need to be made as the pair adapts to each other’s playing styles and tendencies.

Fostering the kind of on-court chemistry Ben and Collin shared didn’t happen overnight, so there could be growing pains here and there.

“I think there’s going to be some times definitely where he's attacking from positions that I’m a little bit unfamiliar with, which could create some new patterns, so just kind of getting familiar with his patterns of when he attacks and when I need to be more ready for certain patterns is going to be a little bit of an adjustment,” explained Johns. “I’m sure I’ll still take a good amount of court at times, so it’s going to be a little more probably actively shifting left and right, where usually I’m always kind of moving right. There will be some movement dynamics that I think will change.”

Even while they find their footing together, Johns and Tardio should still present a formidable challenge to every opposing tandem in the draw.

Playing these two won’t ever be a walk in the park because their brand of pickleball will likely be a combination of technical and patient, with a variety of fast-paced elements that are increasingly popular nowadays as well.

“Honestly, I compare it mostly to kind of how Anna Leigh and I play, which is like kind of a mix of both at times. I’d say we’ll definitely be enforcing kind of the 'Apply Pressure' philosophy and making plays a lot of times, which isn’t to say it’s fire away. It’s not necessarily a bunch of third shot drives with poaching and stuff. It certainly could be, but I think it’s more matchup dependant on kind of what the strategy needs to be and adjust from there,” noted Johns. “It certainly has the ability to be extremely fast and furious and attacking on all wings, and it certainly has the capacity to be slow at some points, too.”

As far as reaching the top of the podium with Tardio from the get-go is concerned, Johns is taking things in stride.

There's no need to start placing extra pressure on themselves at the moment.

“You definitely don't want to be egotistical about it, as in like, 'We're the best and we're going to win.' It's really not like that, but it's always the philosophy of going into any tournament, at least in the past whatever number of years, that I do expect to win. That is the expectation,” shared Johns. “At the same time, if we were to lose, I'd be like, 'You know, it's a new partnership.' It's not the end of the world. These things happen.... This stuff happens when you're unfamiliar with each other, so it's not the end of the world if you lose. At the same time, of course, I'm expecting to do well and win.”

Aside from Tardio, Johns also confirmed that he plans on partnering with Hayden Patriquin and Max Freeman for select tournaments in 2025, too.

And don't rule out a Johns brothers reunion at some point down the road either.

“I think variety is really good and key for kind of just keeping things fresh and keeping yourself interested. I think it was probably just healthier for both of us to get a little bit of a change and maybe get some more enthusiasm for the game and all that going into next year,” explained Johns, when asked about splitting with Collin. “That's not to say this is forever. I mean, obviously we still really enjoy playing together and we'd like to come back together at some point. I think it's more just like, 'Let's take a break, refresh mentally, and just kind of maybe even develop our games a little bit outside of playing with each other.'”

 

 

 

 

 

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The prospect of possibly joining forces with Collin again shouldn't come as much of a surprise given their noteworthy accomplishments over a four-year span together.

Johns and Johns hold 33 total titles and 43 medals as a team, compiling an astounding 74% podium percentage and a 56% title percentage along the way.

That's the definition of success.