Hunter Johnson is the men's singles champion of the WALKER Australia Pickleball Cup after beating Christian Alshon in three games, 11-8, 5-11, 11-8, in the last match at Pat Rafter Arena, Pickleball.com reports. He led the decider 7-0, watched Alshon move in front at 8-7, then finished the job on his first trip to Australia.
Andie Dikosavljevic, the seventh seed, beat Judit Castillo for the women's singles title. Gabe Tardio won twice, in men's doubles with Hayden Patriquin and in mixed with Tyra Hurricane Black, who also took the women's doubles alongside Jorja Johnson.
Coachino Insight
Johnson nearly let a seven-point lead slip in the deciding game. Coaches can use the final as a case study in staying aggressive when an opponent starts a run.
Championship Sunday at the WALKER Australia Pickleball Cup will feature a men's singles final between Hunter Johnson and Christian Alshon at Pat Rafter Arena, Pickleball.com reports. Johnson was the second seed and Alshon the third in a draw whose top seed, Federico Staksrud, could not make the trip.
In women's singles, PPA Tour Asia notes that Judit Castillo beat top seed Kaitlyn Christian in the semifinals. The PPA1500 event, worth more than US$500,000, streams from 8pm ET on Saturday on the PPA Tour and PPA Australia YouTube channels.
Coachino Insight
A final between two tour regulars in Brisbane shows how deep pro singles has become. Australian players can treat the stream as a free lesson in shot selection under pressure.
Tyra Hurricane Black partnered Jorja Johnson to secure a place among the last eight in women’s doubles at the Australia Pickleball Cup in Brisbane on October 15. The official match record shows an 11–5, 11–2 victory over Bernadette Massih and Talia Saunders.
The result gives the leading pair a place in the quarterfinals, rather than a championship medal. It also supplies a concrete women’s doubles update alongside the event’s men’s doubles coverage. The source is the completed official scorecard. Its displayed match-end time supplies the date here; it is not a news article’s publication time.
Coachino Insight
Following each division separately gives coaches and fans a clearer picture of tournament progress than relying on a single event preview or headline partnership.
Source: Pickleball.com official results·Published:
The PPA Tour and PPA Tour Australia have assembled a strong international field for the 2026 Australia Pickleball Cup, played at Pat Rafter Arena's home, the Queensland Tennis Centre, with matches running through Sunday.
Gabe Tardio, Christian Alshon, Hunter Johnson, Hayden Patriquin, JW Johnson and Tyson McGuffin lead the men, while Kaitlyn Christian, Hurricane Tyra Black, Parris Todd, Jorja Johnson and Danni-Elle Townsend head the women's list. Matches stream live on the PPA and PPA Tour Australia YouTube channels from 8pm to 4am ET.
Coachino Insight
For coaches in the region, a home event with this many tour regulars is a rare chance to study top-level doubles patterns live, while the overnight ET stream lets North American players follow along too.
The WALKER Australia Pickleball Cup, a PPA1500 stop with a purse above US$500,000, starts its pro rounds at Brisbane's Queensland Tennis Centre this week, and every champion collects 1,500 ranking points.
Previewing the draw for The Dink, Erik Tice lists Federico Staksrud and Kaitlyn Christian as the singles favourites, Gabe Tardio and Hayden Patriquin atop the men's doubles and the Johnson siblings, Jorja and JW, leading mixed. Home hope Sahra Dennehy is the second seed in women's singles. Matches stream overnight for North America on the PPA Tour's YouTube channel.
Coachino Insight
Australian coaches get a rare home look at tour-level doubles. The wet forecast is also a reminder to prepare players for delays and slick outdoor courts.
When Federico Staksrud could not travel to the Australia Pickleball Cup because of visa problems, Christian Alshon turned to Benjamin Bramblett, his social media manager and full-time hitting partner. Bramblett, a left-hander who last played pro events years ago, and Alshon go back three years.
The stand-in pair won their round of 32 match 11-4, 11-2, took the round of 16 and reached the men's doubles quarterfinals against No. 11 seeds George Wall and Joey Wild. Alshon admitted expectations were modest after Bramblett's long break from tour play.
Coachino Insight
Solid fundamentals travel: a regular practice partner who knows a pro’s patterns can hold up at tour level, which is why a steady hitting partner matters so much in training.
Northern Crocs won the Brisbane Premier stop of Major League Pickleball Australia on October 11, beating Pacific Flame 3–1 in the final. World Pickleball Magazine reports that the Crocs reversed their earlier pool defeat to the same opponents.
Their route included a 21–19 DreamBreaker victory against The Coasters in the semifinal. Andie Dikosavljevic and Prycen Haas then secured the decisive mixed doubles game in the final, 11–7. The result completes the Brisbane event rather than deciding the season championship.
Coachino Insight
Team coaches can use this sequence to discuss resetting after a pool loss and preparing every player for a deciding singles rotation.
