The World Pickleball Podcast

Podcast by Chris Beaumont and Gordon Watson

The World Pickleball Podcast

Chris Beaumont and Gordon Watson chat about the world game of pickleball, uncovering the most fascinating pickleball stories from across the globe in their own fun, unique style. This podcast is perfect for all pickleball fans, especially those who want to know more about what is happening outside of the USA (though hey, the US folks will love it too!) Join us weekly for a light-hearted but very serious world pickleball fix.

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Latest episodes

10 September 2026

Bruno Faletto: From Chilean Tennis Prospect to PPA Pickleball Pro

Bruno Faletto joins Chris Beaumont on the World Pickleball Podcast to explain how he went from one of Chile’s leading junior tennis players to a corporate career in New York, before leaving the security of full-time employment for another attempt at professional sport.

Faletto was Chile’s No. 1 player in his age group and reached No. 8 in South America before a serious back injury interrupted his route towards professional tennis. He recovered to earn an ATP ranking, moved to the United States on a college scholarship and became a four-time NCAA Division II All-American at Saint Leo University.

After graduation, Faletto stopped competing and built a successful sales career in Manhattan. Pickleball was initially supposed to fill the sporting gap. It gradually became something he could no longer treat as a hobby.

In this episode, Faletto discusses:

• The back injury that changed his tennis career

• The financial reality of playing lower-level professional tennis

• Why he walked away from tennis while playing some of his best matches

• Discovering pickleball in New York in 2022

• Learning that power alone would not make him a professional player

• Combining APP tournaments and moneyball events with a full-time sales job

• Building a coaching business before leaving corporate employment

• How five or six hours on court each day changed his consistency and confidence

• Earning a PPA contract after his breakthrough 2026 season

• His technical weaknesses and the jump from Challenger events to established PPA opposition

• Representing the Grand River Rapids in the CNPL

• His ambition to represent Chile in international pickleball

• Preparing for fatherhood while building a professional sporting career

Faletto also explains the mental change that told him he was ready for the next level. Previously, at 9-9 in a deciding game, he found himself hoping the opponent would miss. Now he believes he will win the point himself.

Listen to the complete Bruno Faletto interview on the World Pickleball Podcast, hosted by World Pickleball Magazine’s Chris Beaumont.

A fuller Players’ Voice feature with Bruno Faletto will appear in the September edition of WPM.

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05 September 2026

How Do Pro Pickleball Players Make Money? Shane Dunn on the Business Behind the Tour

What does it really take to earn a living as a professional pickleball player?

Chris Beaumont is joined by Shane Dunn, founder and CEO of Peak Pickleball Agency, to examine the business behind the professional game.

Dunn explains how paddle contracts, tour agreements, sponsorships and appearance opportunities fit together, why prize money tells only part of the story, and how players outside the world’s leading names can build sustainable careers.

They also discuss what brands are looking for, why personality and storytelling matter alongside results, how local coaches and facilities influence recreational players, and Peak’s expansion beyond traditional athlete representation.

With professional pickleball creating talented players faster than it is creating commercial security, this is a revealing look at who can make a living from the sport, how they do it and what still needs to change.

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04 September 2026

Why Your Pickleball Grip Fails When You Sweat, with Sahara Dry CEO Rob McEvoy

You can spend hundreds on a paddle and hours working on technique. None of it helps much if the paddle starts moving in your hand.

In this episode of the World Pickleball Podcast, Chris Beaumont is joined by Rob McEvoy, CEO of Thailand-based sports technology company Sahara Dry, to look at one of the less discussed performance problems in pickleball: sweat, grip and what actually happens between your hand and the paddle.

Sahara Dry takes a different approach from traditional chalk and magnesium-based grip products. Rather than absorbing moisture, McEvoy explains how its modified silica technology is designed to repel it, allowing sweat to bead and move away from the hand.

The conversation goes well beyond the product. McEvoy grew up in Rossendale in North West England, worked around professional rugby with Sale Sharks, Cornish Pirates and London Welsh, then moved to Thailand, where a university scientist who had spent more than a decade working with the material approached him about turning the technology into a consumer product.

They discuss why pole dancing unexpectedly became crucial to Sahara Dry's early development, what gymnastics and shooting taught the company about grip, why Thailand provides an ideal testing ground for sweat management, and why pickleball, particularly the huge recreational market in the United States, has become an important target.

Topics include:

Why sweat changes paddle control
Absorbing moisture versus repelling it
The science behind Sahara Dry
How long grip products need to last
Testing sports technology in Thailand
What pole dancing taught Sahara Dry about grip
Moving technology between different sports
Why pickleball has become an important market
The challenge of getting players to try an unfamiliar product
Building a sports technology company from Thailand

A conversation about something most players notice only when it starts going wrong: the connection between hand, grip and paddle.

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18 August 2026

The English Open Changed the Game: Winners, Surprises and What Comes Next

Six days. More than 60 courts. Some of the best players in Europe and North America. And somewhere around 150 combined hours behind the microphone.

Chris Beaumont and Nick Hobbis are back from the NEC for the definitive review of the 2026 English Open.

They revisit the performances that shaped the week, from Ignasi De Rueda singles breakthrough and the brilliance of Roos van Reek to Jack Munro and Richard Livornese's American statement, Marcello Jardim's senior dominance and the players who exceeded expectations without necessarily leaving Birmingham with gold.

But this is about more than results.

Chris and Nick discuss what it felt like inside the biggest indoor pickleball tournament yet staged, the volunteers who made it possible, the success of the Unity Cup and the community stories happening away from the championship courts.

They also examine where the English Open needs to go next. Should professional players still be playing large round-robin groups? Does the pro division need an entry threshold? What did Stupa's video review and match data add to the broadcast? How should reviews be managed? And after the huge leap from Telford to the NEC, what does Pickleball England do for an encore?

Plus Jake Bower's tactical intelligence, the extraordinary depth of the men's singles field, the gap between Europe and America, the rise of De Rueda, the relentless consistency of Van Reek, some outrageous ATPs and Ernies, and why the grassroots game must never become separated from the professional spectacle being built above it.

The English Open grew up in Birmingham.

Now comes the interesting part.

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08 August 2026

How Do You Build Pickleball Culture? Ron Shell on the NPL, Rivalries and What Comes Next

What does it take to build a professional pickleball league when the culture around the sport is still being created?

World Pickleball Podcast sits down with National Pickleball League CEO Ron Shell for a wide-ranging conversation about the growth of the NPL in Australia, the arrival of New Zealand, and why building a successful league involves far more than putting good players on a court.

Shell explains why he sees the NPL as a marketing vehicle for pickleball itself, why attracting people from outside the existing pickleball community matters, and how the league is trying to create venues, teams and events that people genuinely want to belong to.

The conversation explores the emergence of real rivalries and player personalities, the role companies and communities can play in growing the sport, and why professional pickleball still has work to do before discovering the version of itself that truly works as a broadcast product.

There is also a bigger question running through the episode: should emerging pickleball markets simply copy what has happened in the United States, or can countries such as Australia build something with its own identity?

Ron Shell joins World Pickleball Podcast to talk culture, competition, community and the unfinished business of figuring out exactly what professional pickleball can become.

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05 August 2026

English Open 2026 Preview | Medal Predictions, Biggest Stars & Why This Is Europe's Biggest Pickleball Tournament

The countdown is on.

With less than a week until the 2026 English Open begins at Birmingham's NEC, Chris Beaumont is joined by commentator Nick Hobbis to preview the biggest pickleball tournament outside the United States.

Across more than an hour of analysis, they break down the biggest contenders, the international stars, the medal favourites and the storylines that could define one of the world's premier pickleball events.

Among the topics discussed:

🏆 Who can stop Marcelo Jardim in the senior divisions?

🏆 Will Lee Whitwell complete another dominant week?

🏆 Why the Open divisions are deeper than ever.

🏆 Megan Fudge returns to defend her titles.

🏆 The players ready to announce themselves on the international stage.

🏆 Why moving to Birmingham's NEC could transform the English Open.

🏆 Behind the scenes of commentating one of Europe's biggest pickleball events.

Whether you're playing, spectating or watching from home, this is your complete guide to the 2026 English Open.

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