The (MLP) semifinals will be played in New York later this month, with four teams vying for two spots in the final.
For the last-four clashes, New Jersey 5s, the top seeded team, chose Brooklyn Pickleball Team as their opponents, leaving St. Louis Shock to face Dallas Flash. Both fixtures could ultimately be determined by how construct their doubles combinations – and, particularly, who is entrusted with the task of playing from the left side.
In professional pickleball, the left side is often where a team deploy their most aggressive player. The position demands from a player the ability to absorb pressure, attack balls out of the air and take control of exchanges. But MLP’s team format makes the equation more complicated: players must be moved around to optimise mixed doubles, women’s and men’s combinations, while preserving chemistry.
That makes New Jersey’s clash against Brooklyn especially intriguing. New Jersey boast Anna Leigh Waters and Jorja Johnson, two high-level attacking options whose versatility gives the 5s considerable advantage. Brooklyn, meanwhile, have a fascinating structural advantage in Riley Newman and Christian Alshon. Pre-season analysis identified Newman as the stronger left-side player and Alshon as more naturally suited to the right, while also noting that keeping both on their preferred sides could limit Brooklyn’s pairing options.
Brooklyn’s women’s doubles pair also give them tactical advantage. Rachel Rohrabacher has increasingly played on the left in PPA Tour events, while Jackie Kawamoto brings stability and versatility. Their ability to establish control early could be crucial against a New Jersey team whose depth allows multiple lineup permutations.
The semifinal’s context makes that flexibility even more valuable. New Jersey reached New York by beating Palm Beach 2-0 in their quarterfinal series, but Waters and Noe Khlif lost both mixed doubles encounters against Tina Pisnik and Dekel Bar. Jorja Johnson and Federico Staksrud then closed the second match with an 11-3 victory.
The other semifinal clash between St Louis Shock and Texas Ranchers presents a different left-side problem.
St. Louis has been one of the season’s most consistent teams and swept Texas Ranchers 3-0 in both quarterfinal matches. In Hayden Patriquin and , Shock have a formidable men’s doubles combination, while Dallas enter the last-four with enormous momentum after eliminating the LA Mad Drops.
Dallas’ biggest asset is JW Johnson. He and Augie Ge stunned Ben Johns and Max Freeman 11-2 in the men’s doubles clash in the deciding quarterfinal match before Johnson and Brooke Buckner added another mixed-doubles victory. Townsend and Ge then finished the series 11-7, improving their partnership to 19-4.
That is the central tactical question for Dallas: can they consistently create situations where Johnson and their strongest attackers dictate from the preferred side before St. Louis can establish its own rhythm?