Pictona is host to world's top pickleball pros this week, including #1 Ben Johns

HOLLY HILL — Ben Johns, considered by many — including the world rankings — the world’s best pickleball player, headlines the field of 1,000-plus pros and amateurs as the Professional Pickleball Association takes over Pictona for the Red Clay Florida Open, Thursday through Sunday.

While the four-day tournament includes amateurs of various levels and age brackets, the marquee draw is the professional field from the PPA, a year-round tour that comes to Holly Hill on the heels of last week’s event in Minneapolis. The 2023 pro schedule includes 25 tournaments.

The prize purse this week is nearly $240,000.

Of the 1,189 players entered this week, 215 are professionals. Both numbers are the highest for the PPA this year.

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Along with Johns, a 23-year-old Maryland native, the world’s No. 2 male player, Riley Newman (Phoenix) is also entered this week. The stout field also features the top three ranked female players, all from Florida: Anna Leigh Waters (Delray Beach), Catherine Parenteau (Naples), and Anna Bright (Boca Raton).

Johns and his brother, Collin, have won all three doubles championships so far in 2023.

The pros will be competing in all three categories — singles, doubles and mixed doubles.

Daily ticket prices range from $25 (grounds pass) to $50 (courtside). More info: PPAtour.com and Pictona.org.

The PPA's first visit to Pictona follows last month's tournament sanctioned by the Association of Pickleball Professionals (APP), which also features a pro division. This week's event also precedes a tournament later this month featuring the PPA's new "strategic partner," Major League Pickleball, which features 12 co-ed teams of professionals and boasts big-name owners such as Tom Brady, LeBron James and Mark Cuban.

The MLP's Pictona tournament is scheduled for March 23-26. Some PPA professionals also compete in MLP.

This article originally appeared on The Daytona Beach News-Journal: Pickleball's best, including #1 Ben Johns, at Pictona for Red Clay Open