Four Teams, One Central Park Crown: Breaking Down the MLP Semifinals

The Major League Pickleball season is down to its final four, and they’re all headed to one of the sport’s signature stages: City Pickle at Wollman Rink, in the heart of Central Park, August 28–30. After a quarterfinal weekend full of upsets, the semifinals feel genuinely unpredictable. Here’s a look at who’s left and what makes each dangerous.

Start with the favorite. The No. 1 New Jersey 5s earned the top seed and the regular-season title, and for good reason — they roll out Anna Leigh Waters, the most decorated player in the sport, alongside a deep, versatile roster. In MLP’s team format, having a player who can win two of her lineups nearly every night is an enormous head start, and the 5s have built around that with steady mixed and men’s options. They’re the team to beat, but as the format loves to remind everyone, being the favorite guarantees nothing.

The No. 2 St. Louis Shock might be the hottest team in the field. Their women’s pairing of Anna Bright and Kate Fahey has been on a tear, and a balanced lineup that includes Gabe Tardio and Hayden Patriquin gives them multiple ways to win a match. They swept their way through the quarterfinals a day early, which means fresh legs and momentum heading into New York.

Then there are the party-crashers. The No. 5 Brooklyn Pickleball Team knocked out the reigning-champion Columbus Sliders to get here, proving they can rise to a big moment against elite competition. And the No. 6 Dallas Flash may be the most compelling story of all: they took down a lineup featuring Ben Johns to reach the semis, riding a lengthy unbeaten run powered by the outstanding form of JW Johnson and the steady, sneaky-offensive play of Brooke Buckner. Neither team will be intimidated by the stage.

If you’re new to the format, here’s why the bracket is so open. MLP semifinal matchups are decided as a best-two-of-three-matches series, with each match blending women’s doubles, men’s doubles, two mixed-doubles games, and — if a match splits — a sudden-death Dreambreaker singles round where anything can happen. Depth matters as much as star power, home-team lineup advantages swing games, and a single hot player can flip a series. It’s the same math that let two lower seeds reach this point.

What to watch: whether New Jersey’s top-heavy firepower can overwhelm deeper rosters, whether St. Louis’s red-hot women carry them, and whether Brooklyn or Dallas can keep their upset magic alive one more weekend. With the season, a title, and Central Park bragging rights on the line, expect tight matches and at least one Dreambreaker that has everyone holding their breath.

We’ll be watching all weekend and will recap the champion — plus the standout performances — in next week’s roundup. Don’t miss it.

Keep reading

• This week’s recap: upsets send four teams to Central Park
• Rising Stars Watch: young guns bound for the semis
• How one ranking is tying the world together
• All news