Team USA sweeps Latin America to win the first Nations Cup
Ben Johns, Anna Bright and a squad assembled in about 24 hours went undefeated in Dallas, closing with an 11-9, 11-1, 11-6 final.
The favorites played like favorites. Team USA swept Team Latin America 3-0 on Sunday at Brookhaven Country Club to win the inaugural Major League Pickleball Nations Cup. Anna Bright and Kate Fahey took women's doubles 11-9 over Mari Humberg and Alexa Schull. Ben Johns and CJ Klinger won men's doubles 11-1 over Eric Oncins and Nico Acevedo. Johns and Bright closed it in mixed, 11-6 over Oncins and Schull.
The American roster read like a pro tour seeding sheet: Anna Bright, Kate Fahey, Tyra "Hurricane" Black, Ben Johns, CJ Klinger and Will Howells, captained by Johnny Goldberg. They went undefeated through group play and the semifinals, and won four of their five matches in regulation.
How they got there
Eight regional teams and 48 players opened with round-robin pools on Friday and Saturday. Team USA and Asia Domestic advanced from Group A; Europe-East and Latin America came through Group B. In Sunday's semifinals the U.S. beat Europe-East 3-1, and Latin America beat Asia Domestic 3-1.
The only real scare came in group play, when Asia Domestic pushed Team USA to the tournament's only DreamBreaker before losing 21-18, The Dink reported. Europe-East also took a game off the Americans in the semifinal, winning a mixed game 14-12, while playing without Tina Pisnik, who Forbes' Todd Boss reported was out with food poisoning.
Latin America's run was the weekend's quiet story. Mari Humberg, Alexa Schull, Charlie Treviño, Eric Oncins, Nico Acevedo and Rafa Lenhard lost their opening match on Friday to Europe-East, then won their way into the final. Schull went 6-2 in her games, per The Dink. "Eric Oncins turned the Latin American team from one that got swept on Friday to one that made the final on Sunday," Boss wrote.
It feels absolutely incredible.
Anna Bright, as reported by The Kitchen
Bright told The Kitchen that the U.S. chants in the stands made the team feel like it was playing for more than itself. Goldberg said the squad came together in about 24 hours. "(Our players) are definitely all patriots," he said.
What it means
A first edition of anything is a test. This one proved two things: national-team pickleball draws a crowd, and the U.S. depth gap is real. The sweep in the final, including an 11-1 second game, is the scoreline the rest of the world will be chasing next year.
The stage doesn't change. The Nations Cup opened the 2026 Pickleball World Championships, and the PPA World Championships main draw starts this week at the same venue in Farmers Branch, Texas, with coverage on PickleballTV.
This story was produced by the Pickleballer news desk under Pickleballer’s standards. See an error? Tell us.
