US Open of Pickleball in Naples: Everything You Need to Know About the World's Largest Tournament

On paper, the US Open of Pickleball is the most impressive tournament in the world. With nearly 3,500 players, more than 65 courts, thousands of spectators and media coverage that grows every year, it's the event that best sums up the size this sport has reached in just a few seasons. Behind that showcase, however, the tournament has a history, an identity and, above all, political quirks that set it apart from any other major stop on the circuit. Here's everything you need to understand.

Naples, Florida: the world's largest pickleball complex

The US Open is held every year at East Naples Community Park, in southern Florida. The site was renamed in 2026 the "USOP National Pickleball Center", but everyone still knows it by its historic name. With 65 courts laid out across several hectares, it's quite simply the largest pickleball facility in the world. For comparison, the venue of the Skechers Pickleball Paris Open 2026, which will be the biggest European tournament, will host a few dozen pop-up courts inside a Paris arena, a very different order of magnitude.

This sheer size has a flip side: despite 3,500 entries accepted each year, the tournament turns away thousands of applications for lack of space. The US Open is not a closed pro tournament; it's a giant pro-am where the world's best players rub shoulders with amateurs playing their age or skill bracket. That blend is rare, and it's part of what built the tournament's legend: a retired North Carolinian might cross paths, in an alley between two courts, with a star from the pro tour heading to her next match.

A major political quirk: where are the UPA pros?

To understand the US Open, you have to understand the cold war that structures American professional pickleball. The United Pickleball Association (UPA) is the parent company of both the PPA Tour and Major League Pickleball, the two main circuits that gather the overwhelming majority of the world's top pros. By contractual decision between the UPA and its players under contract, those players cannot, with very few exceptions, take part in the US Open.

That means the majority of the circuit's usual headliners aren't in Naples. It's a huge anomaly for a tournament called the "US Open". Picture Roland-Garros without 80% of the global top 50: that's roughly the situation on the pro side of the US Open of pickleball. It doesn't take anything away from the sporting stakes, but it changes how you read it. The US Open is less a competition to crown the true world No. 1s than an institutional showcase for non-UPA players and amateurs of every level.

That context also explains why brand domination like JOOLA's on the PPA Tour doesn't mechanically translate to US Open podiums. The exceptions to the UPA rule, when they happen, often produce the tournament's most memorable moments.

Anna Leigh Waters: the exception that saves the sporting narrative

The most notable exception of recent editions is Anna Leigh Waters. The undisputed world No. 1 at 19, the women's GOAT of the discipline, she gets a waiver every year to play. In 2026, she won her third consecutive women's doubles title, partnering as usual with her mother Leigh Waters. In mixed doubles, she paired with Jay Devilliers, another UPA exception, and won an instant-classic final, saving 16 match points to take it 11-9 in the third set.

Her presence gives the tournament its sporting credibility. Without her, the US Open would largely be seen as a second-tier pro competition. With her, it's an event that pits the best player in the world against the best resistance non-UPA players can mount. The other major podiums of 2026 saw Jack Munro and Richard Livornese win the men's doubles, Kat Stewart take women's singles (Waters didn't enter), and Dusty Boyer win men's singles.

The amateur draw: the US Open's true singularity

Where the US Open has no rival is its amateur draw. For about ten days, thousands of players battle it out across dozens of categories: by age (from 19+ to 80+ in 5-year brackets), by level (3.0, 3.5, 4.0, 4.5, 5.0+ per DUPR ratings), and by event type (men's singles, women's singles, men's doubles, women's doubles, mixed). It's an organized anthill where every player finds a slot and a draw.

That openness explains the tournament's international pull. Players come in from Canada, Mexico, Japan, Australia, and even a few European pioneers. For many, playing the US Open in Naples is the pickleball version of a pilgrimage to St Andrews for golfers or to Wimbledon for tennis fans: an experience to live at least once, regardless of the result.

And on the non-UPA pro side, who do you watch?

The US Open is still tracked closely by the industry, because its pro draws are where the players who could later join the PPA Tour or Major League Pickleball emerge. The tournament regularly serves as a springboard. Young phenoms often cut their teeth there against seasoned players, and certain prodigies, like 14-year-old Kelly Goodnow, who just signed with the PPA, are watched closely by recruiters from the pro stables.

On the equipment side, the US Open is also a watching post for manufacturers. With so many players on site, it's the perfect chance to observe real trends: what proportion of T700 carbon paddles, which brands are rising, which balls are dominating. Naples, for example, is where the rising importance of the new pro stables that now structure Major League Pickleball became visible last year.

Why the US Open still matters

Despite its truncated pro draw, the US Open remains a one-of-a-kind tournament. It represents the junction between American recreational pickleball, the wave that drove the boom, and the rising pro scene. It's also a barometer of the sport's overall health: if the US Open keeps turning down entries every year, it means growth is far from over. For French players who'd one day like to make the trip, it's a unique experience: spending ten days in a giant complex where you only play, eat and breathe pickleball, in a setting with no equivalent in the world. And who knows, you might cross paths with Anna Leigh Waters between two courts. It isn't Wimbledon, it's a different kind of sporting mythology in the making.