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PPA Tour Finals: Waters, Staksrud and Christian cruise as the semifinals take shape

By Pickleball Skill Levels · November 5, 2026 · 3 min read · Last updated November 5, 2026

Pool play at the CIBC PPA Tour Finals in San Clemente is done: Waters, Christian, and Staksrud all went 3-0, the mixed doubles semifinals are set, and McGuffin/Daescu posted an 11-0, 11-0 statement win.

A fast rally at the kitchen line on a packed championship court

The CIBC PPA Tour Finals in San Clemente — the event that gathers the season's best into small round-robin pools — has its semifinal picture, and the favorites mostly refused to blink, per pickleball.com's live coverage of the Finals.

Singles: three perfect pools

Anna Leigh Waters finished atop her pool at 3-0, closing with a 12-10, 11-7 win over Kate Fahey — a match she said turned on grabbing the tight first game: "If I was down in the second having lost 12-10 in the first, I probably would've felt a little different." Parris Todd took the pool's second semifinal spot. In the other women's pool, Kaitlyn Christian went 3-0 emphatically, beating Mary Brascia 11-0, 11-2; Brascia advanced in second place.

In men's singles, No. 1 seed Federico Staksrud completed a perfect 3-0 pool run, beating Jaume Martinez Vich 11-5, 11-7. "It feels like every day is a Championship Sunday times three," Staksrud said of the format. Tyson McGuffin also finished 3-0 in his pool, edging Connor Garnett 11-9, 13-11.

The mixed semifinals everyone wanted

A ball dropping just over the net tape into the kitchen, close-up

Mixed doubles gives the Finals its headline matches: Anna Leigh Waters and Ben Johns against Anna Bright and Gabe Tardio in one semifinal, and Jorja Johnson and JW Johnson against Catherine Parenteau and Christian Alshon in the other. Waters and Johns finished pool play 3-0, including an 8-11, 11-5, 11-6 win over Parenteau and Alshon.

In men's doubles, McGuffin stayed perfect alongside Andrei Daescu — a 3-0 pool record topped by an 11-0, 11-0 win over Matt Wright and James Ignatowich. In women's doubles, Waters and Parenteau recovered from an earlier pool loss to beat Tina Pisnik and Parris Todd 11-1, 7-11, 11-5 and take their pool's top spot on point differential.

Pool formats reward exactly what our skill radar guide teaches for your own game: there is no hiding a weak shot when everyone plays everyone.

Source: pickleball.com, live blog of the CIBC PPA Tour Finals presented by ROAR Organic (San Clemente). Scores and quotes as reported there. Measure your own six shots with the free skill check.

Now find out where YOU stand

Reading about levels is step one. The free skill check scores your six shots and names your level — and your weakest shot — in about two minutes.

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Pickleball words, in plain English

Players throw these words around like everyone knows them. Here is what each one actually means.

Kitchen
The 7-foot zone right at the net. You can stand in it, but you can't hit the ball out of the air while you're there.
Dink
A soft, gentle shot that just clears the net and lands in the kitchen. It forces the other side to hit up, not down.
Third-shot drop
Your team's first shot after the serve and return. Hit it soft so it drops into the kitchen — that lets you walk up to the net.
Reset
When a hard shot comes at you, you block it softly into the kitchen instead of swinging back. It slows the point down and saves you.
Drive
A hard, fast shot hit low over the net. The opposite of a dink.
Pop-up
A ball you hit too high by accident. It hangs in the air, and the other side gets to smash it. Most points at low levels end this way.
Speed up
To suddenly hit the ball hard and fast on purpose, to rush the other side before they're ready.
Volley
Hitting the ball out of the air before it bounces.