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The Newport Beach Problem: How Patriquin Cracked Ben Johns' Code

One tactical blueprint just ended Johns' 11-tournament win streak in mixed doubles—and it's about to reshape how everyone plays the GOAT.

FORWRD Team·March 2, 2026·9 min read

According to sources, Hayden Patriquin just solved a puzzle that's stumped professional pickleball for three years: how to consistently beat Ben Johns.

Not with power. Not with lucky bounces. With something far more dangerous—a systematic tactical approach that turns Johns' greatest strength into his biggest weakness.

The evidence was written all over Championship Sunday at Mesa Cup, where Patriquin and Anna Bright swept the previously unbeatable Johns-Waters tandem 11-8, 11-9, 11-3 in mixed doubles. But here's what everyone missed while celebrating the upset: this wasn't a fluke performance. This was the debut of anti-Johns technology.

The Clean Winner Revolution

Buried in the Mesa Cup stats is the most telling number of the tournament: Bright and Patriquin had 18 clean winners to Johns-Waters' 3. Eighteen to three. That's not variance—that's systematic domination of the game's most fundamental skill.

But here's the kicker: Johns won men's doubles the same day with partner Gabe Tardio, posting 27 clean winners. So we know Johns wasn't having an off day. Something specific about Patriquin's approach was neutering the GOAT's offensive game.

Watch how Patriquin plays Johns in mixed doubles versus how everyone else does it. Most players try to overpower Johns or avoid him entirely—classic mistake. Patriquin does the opposite. He targets Johns, but with surgical precision rather than brute force.

The Canadian's strategy exploits Johns' methodical decision-making process. Johns processes every shot through multiple variables—court position, spin, opponent positioning, percentage play. It's what makes him unbeatable in most situations. But Patriquin creates situations where that processing time becomes a liability.

The Pace Problem Nobody's Talking About

Here's what the broadcast announcers won't tell you: Johns struggles most against players who constantly vary pace within rallies, not just between them. Most pros play at consistent speeds—fast during attacks, moderate during resets, slow during dinks. Patriquin plays jazz while everyone else plays classical.

Look at the longest rally stat: 38 shots in that mixed doubles final. That's not accident. Patriquin extends rallies specifically to create more pace-change opportunities within single points. He'll hit a medium-pace crosscourt dink, then immediately follow with a slow drop, then attack at 75% power instead of the expected 100%.

Johns' pattern recognition—his superpower—starts misfiring when the patterns keep shifting mid-rally. And once Johns gets fractionally late to shots, Patriquin punishes those milliseconds ruthlessly.

The Anti-Johns Blueprint Goes Live

This weekend in Newport Beach, every mixed doubles team is going to study that Mesa Cup tape. Now they're seeded first again, but with a target painted in neon.

The beauty of Patriquin's approach? It's teachable. You don't need his specific skills—you need his tactical framework. Vary pace within rallies, not just between them. Target Johns with precision, not power. Extend rallies to create more variance opportunities.

Watch for copycats this weekend. New partnerships could implement Patriquin-style chaos tactics.

Why Everyone's Getting This Wrong

The consensus take on Mesa Cup is that Patriquin and Bright "got hot" or "played the match of their lives." Wrong. This was the logical conclusion of months of tactical preparation.

Bright understands how to create the chaos that disrupts Johns' rhythm, and she found the perfect chaos agent in Patriquin.

The proof? Patriquin couldn't replicate this magic in men's doubles the same day, losing to Johns-Tardio despite quality play. The anti-Johns blueprint works specifically in mixed doubles, where court coverage patterns and communication demands are different.

The Newport Beach Test

Here's my prediction: Johns-Waters win Newport Beach, but not easily. They'll face at least one three-game match, probably two. The tactical cat is out of the bag.

More importantly, watch how other teams start incorporating Patriquin's pace-variance approach. The 2026 PPA season just became a laboratory for anti-Johns technology. Some experiments will fail spectacularly. Others will work well enough to turn Johns from unbeatable to merely excellent.

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Patriquin didn't just win a tournament in Mesa. He published a research paper on how to beat the greatest player in pickleball history. The question isn't whether other teams will try to replicate his blueprint—it's how long Johns takes to develop countermeasures.

The revolution starts this weekend in Newport Beach. Don't blink.

Source material from PPA Tour official tournament reports and championship statistics.

Sources

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