PPA Cary 2026 Finals Results: What Changed
PPA Cary 2026 finals results: Waters won two titles, Johns and Tardio stayed unbeaten, and Hunter Johnson completed a comeback.
The PPA Cary 2026 finals results showed familiar champions, but the route to Sunday was unusual. Anna Leigh Waters won women’s singles and doubles, Anna Bright also earned two gold medals, Ben Johns and Gabriel Tardio extended their 2026 partnership to 54–0, and Hunter Johnson came back to beat Federico Staksrud in men’s singles.
Who won the PPA Cary finals?
Waters and Bright beat Tyra Black and Jorja Johnson 11–5, 11–6, 11–3 in women’s doubles. It was their 24th title together, while Waters’ singles win over Kate Fahey, 11–1, 11–9, gave her career title number 196 according to the tournament recap.
Bright and Hayden Patriquin won mixed doubles over Jorja Johnson and JW Johnson, 11–9, 11–3, 11–7. Johns and Tardio defeated Christian Alshon and Andrei Daescu 11–8, 11–8, 5–11, 11–5. Their unbeaten partnership record reached 54–0 in 2026, although the final still went to a fourth game.
Hunter Johnson lost the opening game of the men’s singles final 7–11. He answered with 11–3 and then an 11–0 deciding game, earning his ninth career singles title. A scoreline like 11–0 describes that final game; it does not mean the entire tournament was one-sided.
What made Cary different?
JW and Jorja Johnson had already upset Johns and Waters in the mixed-doubles semifinal, winning 11–9 and 11–6 after dropping the first game 11–4. The result interrupted a partnership that had been the usual benchmark, even though Bright and Patriquin restored the expected names to the mixed final on Sunday.
The recap also linked JW’s wider court coverage to habits developed during the Major League Pickleball season. That is an observation about tactical roles, not proof that one league automatically produces better players. Players can carry new responsibilities between formats, but results still depend on opponents, partners and conditions.
How should fans read the numbers?
Separate match score, title count and unbeaten record. For example, 54–0 refers to Johns and Tardio together in 2026, while 196 refers to Waters’ career PPA titles after Cary. They answer different questions and should not be combined into a single ranking claim.
For match analysis, note the opening game, the turning point and the deciding game. In Johnson’s final, the sequence 7–11, 11–3, 11–0 shows a clear change after the first game, but it does not explain every tactical adjustment by itself.
The Cary draw broke several expectations before the champions reclaimed Sunday. Use our tournament strategy guide and doubles positioning guide for evergreen context.
