In its first year of having a regular season and playoff bracket, Major League Pickleball did not disappoint! The first round of the playoffs was held at the Brookhaven Country Club, in Farmers Branch, Texas, Friday, November 1st, through Sunday, November 3rd.
Round 1 of the playoffs was essentially the quarterfinals. Six teams in both the Premier Level and Challenger Level qualified for the playoffs, with the top two seeds earning a bye to the semifinals. These teams did not play this weekend.
Premier Level bracket after Round 1 of the playoffs
Challenger Level bracket after Round 1 of the playoffs
Each playoff matchup is a best-of-three series against the opponent. In the first two matches, the better seed gets to choose all coin toss options (BIG advantage)—side, which gender plays first, and the order of the mixed doubles and Dreambreaker matches. If there is a third match, a regular coin flip occurs, which removes some of the advantage for the higher seed.
Additionally, the higher seed gets to choose their opponent. In Round 1 of the playoffs, the best seed playing was the 3 seed, which could choose to play either the 5 or 6 seed. Here’s how the matchups shook out:
Premier Level
- (3) Dallas Flash vs. (6) NY Hustlers
- (4) DC Pickleball Team vs. (5) Texas Ranchers
Challenger Level
- (3) Miami Pickleball Club vs. (6) Frisco Pandas
- (4) Atlanta Bouncers vs. (5) Las Vegas Night Owls
Both of the 3 seeds chose to play the 6 seeds.
Let’s get into the action.
Challenger Level Recap
Quarterfinal Matchup #1 - #3 Miami Pickleball Club vs #6 Frisco Pandas
- Rosters
- Miami: Milan Rane, Eric Oncins, Noe Khlif, Bobbi Oshiro
- Frisco: Ewa Radzikowska, Stefan Auvergne, Tammy Emmrich, Michael Loyd
Match #1 - Miami wins, 3-1
The first match of the playoffs went the way of the Miami Pickleball Club. They won men’s and women’s doubles 25-13 and 25-14, respectively. In mixed doubles, Ewa and Stefan were able to hold off Noe and Bobbi in overtime pickleball, 27-25. This brought the match to 2-1 in favor of Miami.
With the match on the line, Eric Oncins and Milan Rane stepped up, beating Michael and Tammy, 25-18.
Analysis - I was worried about Miami’s confidence level coming in, but they seemed to weather the storm and built momentum at the right time. It was very obvious that nerves played a big role in this first matchup. Players on both teams were missing routine dinks, plenty of third shots were sailing or going into the net, and structured play was hard to find.
Ultimately, Miami was able to pull out the win and “a win is a win”. They were happy to move on, and Frisco was back to the drawing board.
Match #2 - Miami wins, 3-2 in a Dreambreaker, 21-11
The second match between Miami and Frisco was much closer, with Miami winning in a Dreambreaker. The Miami men once again beat Frisco, but the score was 25-23. Tammy and Ewa really stepped up for the Frisco women, beating Milan and Bobbi, 25-15.
The mixed doubles matchups winners were switched in Match #2. Bobbi and Noe beat Ewa and Stefan, handily, 25-15. All the pressure was on Michael Loyd and Tammy Emmrich - win or go home. They got revenge for their Match #1 loss to Milly Rane and Eric Oncins, beating them 25-22.
The match went into a Dreambreaker, where Miami is probably favored against any Challenger Level team, having gone 7-1 in Dreambreakers in the regular season. Miami put on a dominating performance.
The biggest differenc-emakers for Miami were Milan Rane and Eric Oncins. Rane went 7-1 in her two rotations with Tammy Emmrich. In his two rotations with Stefan Auvergne, Eric Oncins went 6-2. Bobbie went 5-3 and Noe went 3-5, causing the 21-11 landslide victory for Miami.
Miami is moving on to the semifinals in Orlando and has earned promotion into the Premier Level in 2025.
Quarterfinal Matchup #2 - #4 Atlanta Bouncers vs #5 Las Vegas Night Owls
- Rosters
- Atlanta: Jaume Martinez Vich, Todd Fought, Susannah Barr, Emily Cederquist
- Las Vegas: Chao Yi Wang, Judit Castillo, Blaine Hovenier, Rafa Hewett
Match #1 - Atlanta wins 3-1
All the games in this first match were highly contested. Three of the games were decided by two points. In men’s doubles, Jaume and Todd barely beat Blaine and Rafa 25-23. The Las Vegas Night Owls women helped turn the momentum back in their favor, briefly, winning 29-27.
Atlanta has been good in mixed doubles all year and this match was no exception. Jaume and Susannah won a tight one, 25-23, and put it in the hands of Todd and Emily to close out the match. They beat Judit and Blaine 25-20.
Analysis - I didn’t expect the men’s doubles to be that close. Todd and Jaume showed a bit of nerves, but they stepped up in mixed doubles. Susannah didn’t have her best game, making more unforced errors than usual. Good teams find ways to win, even when they’re not at their best—and Atlanta did that in Match #1.
Match #2 - Las Vegas wins 3-2, in a Dreambreaker, 21-19
This match mirrored Match #1. The Atlanta men won 25-21, and the Las Vegas women won 25-19. The biggest difference was the performance of Judit and Blaine in mixed doubles. They played much better, barely edging out Todd and Emily 26-24. Jaume and Susannah won again, 25-23, bringing the match to a Dreambreaker.
The Dreambreaker was much tighter than I expected. The Atlanta men had an advantage, while the Las Vegas women had a decided advantage.
Breakdown of the Dreambreaker points:
Blaine vs. Todd - 7-5, Blaine
JMV vs. Rafa - 6-5, JMV (JMV earned a sideout at 20)
Emily vs. Judit - 5-4, Judit (Judit closed it out)
Zoey vs. Susannah - 5-3, Zoey
Analysis - The third match will likely come down to mixed doubles. Gender doubles seems like a formality in this matchup. The Dreambreaker was much closer than anticipated, especially for the Atlanta women.
Match #3 - Atlanta wins 3-1
Having played both matches on Friday, Atlanta and Las Vegas played the first match of the day on Saturday.
As expected, the Atlanta men beat Blaine and Rafa 25-9, setting the tone for the match. Judit and Zoey came out and beat Emily and Susannah 25-18. Sound familiar? It should.
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In mixed doubles, everyone on Atlanta rose to the occasion. Las Vegas chose to change the mixed doubles matchups, hoping to force another Dreambreaker. Susannah and Jaume, a perfect 12-0 together going into this match, beat Judit and Blaine 25-17.
Las Vegas wanted the matchup of Rafa and Zoey, hoping to challenge the #2 Atlanta mixed doubles team of Todd and Emily. However, Todd and Emily played better than the Vegas top team, edging out a 25-22 victory.
Analysis - As expected, the third match came down to mixed doubles. The veterans on Atlanta were able to step up in the clutch and pull out the victory.
Atlanta moves on to Orlando for the semifinals and also earns promotion to the Premier Level in 2025.
Premier Level Matchups
Quarterfinal Matchup #1 - #3 Dallas Flash vs. #6 NY Hustlers
Rosters
- Dallas: JW Johnson, Jorja Johnson, Hurricane Tyra Black, Augie Ge
- NY: Jack Sock, Jackie Kawamoto, Lea Jansen, CJ Klinger
Match #1 - NY Wins, 3-2 in a Dreambreaker, 21-17
The first match of the Premier Level playoffs was a bit of an upset, as the 6 seed, NY Hustlers, forced a Dreambreaker and won. JW and Augie beat Jack and CJ 25-19. In women’s doubles, Lea and Jackie beat Tyra and Jorja 26-24.
Dallas was able to pick the mixed doubles lineups, pitting Augie and Tyra against CJ and Jackie. Dallas won 25-22. In the final game of the match, Jack and Lea completely dominated the Johnson siblings 25-13, forcing the Dreambreaker.
Recap of Dreambreaker matchups:
Jack vs. JW - 6-6 tie
CJ vs. Augie - 5
Lea vs. HTB - 6-2, Lea
Jackie vs. Jorja - 4-4 tie
Analysis - The Hustlers pulled off the upset, winning in a Dreambreaker. Jack Sock looked extremely energetic and played well. As Jack goes, so does NY. The Johnson siblings looked out of sorts in mixed doubles and will need to find their rhythm in the next two matches if Dallas hopes to make it to the semifinals.
Matches #2 & #3 - Dallas wins 3-0
In the second and third matches, Dallas took over, winning both 3-0.
All gender doubles matches were won by Dallas. In the most iconic match of the first round of the playoffs, the first men’s doubles match was won by Dallas, 37-35. This was the 2nd highest scoring match in MLP history. Whenever it looked like one team was going to pull ahead, the other team made an amazing play. If you only have time to watch one match from the weekend, I highly recommend it be this one.
In women’s doubles, Jorja and Tyra turned the tables from Match #1, winning 25-21 in Match #2 and Match #3, 26-24.
In both mixed matches, The Flash sent out their 2nd best mixed team, Augie and Tyra, against Jack and Lea. They won 25-16 in Match #2, and 25-23 in Match #3., sealing both matches for Dallas.
Analysis - The Johnson siblings really stepped up in Match #2 and Match #3. Augie and Tyra Black also played exceptionally in their mixed doubles matches.
The Dallas Flash move on to the semifinals.
Quarterfinal Matchup #2 - #4 D.C. Pickleball Team vs. #5 Texas Ranchers
- Rosters
- D.C.: James Ignatowich, Rachel Rohrabacher, Dekel Bar, Vivian Glozman
- TX: Christian Alshon, Etta Wright, Tina Pisnik, Quang Duong
Match #1 - D.C. wins, 3-1
The Ranchers looked like they grabbed momentum early, beating the DC women 25-21. That would turn out to be the only win of the match for Texas.
The D.C. men won a tight one, 26-24. In mixed doubles, Rachel and James beat Christian and Etta 25-17. Dekel and Viv closed it out for D.C., winning another close one 28-26.
Analysis - The Ranchers didn’t look themselves, especially in mixed doubles. Pisnik didn’t look comfortable at all, facing off against her normal partner and training partner, Dekel Bar. The Ranchers will need to step up on Sunday if they want a chance.
In men’s doubles, the Ranchers had the lead and game point on Christian's paddle, and he missed the serve into the net. We will see if he can turn it around on Sunday.
Matches #2 & #3 - Texas wins 3-1
In the second and third matches, Texas took over, winning both 3-1.
Match #2 Outcomes
- Women’s Doubles - 26-24, Texas
- Men’s Doubles - 25-20, Texas
- Mixed #1 - 34-32 - D.C., Dekel and Viv beat Tina and Quang
- Mixed #2 - 25-23 - Texas, Christian and Etta over James and Rachel
Match #3 Outcomes
- Women’s Doubles - 26-24, D.C.
- Men’s Doubles - 25-22, Texas
- Mixed #1 - 28-26 - Texas, Tina and Quang beat Dekel and Viv
- Mixed #2 - 25-19 - Texas, Christian and Etta over James and Rachel
Analysis - This was by far the tightest matchup on the weekend. Here are the match outcomes:
- Women’s Doubles - Texas, 2-1
- Men’s Doubles - Texas, 2-1
- Mixed #1 - Texas, 2-1, Tina and Quang vs. Dekel and Viv
- Mixed #2 - Texas, 2-1, Christian and Etta vs. James and Rachel
Texas had to show some guts in the overall comeback. It was obvious they were not happy with the way they played in Match #1 and really played much better in Match #2 and Match #3.
Seven of the 12 games that were played in these matches were decided by two points. The margins are so razor-thin in the playoffs, that even if one of those outcomes were swapped, it could have changed the entire outcome. In fact, Texas was quite possibly a little lucky coming away with the victory, because they went 3-4 in those seven matches.
The Texas Ranchers are moving on to the semifinals in Orlando in three weeks.
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