Ben Johns blames fashion crisis on partial colorblindness, then shows up in his best outfit to date

BEN JOHNS admitted a fashion crisis at the PPA Pickleball World Championships.

He blamed partial colorblindness.

Then he showed up the next day in what many are calling his best outfit of the tournament.

The sequence played out in front of a live broadcast on Pickleballtv.

Ben Johns and Anna Leigh Waters are the top seeds in mixed doubles.

They usually coordinate their outfits before matches.

On Tuesday, during the round of 64, something went wrong.

Waters wore a teal skirt and a black shirt from Nike.

Johns wore bright blue shorts and a white shirt.

The colors did not match.

Broadcasters Sarah Ansboury and Michelle McMahon noticed immediately.

They asked Johns about it during the post-match interview.

“Ben, I don’t think you did your job today with matching Anna Leigh’s outfit, so what’s going on here?” Ansboury said.

Johns, Waters and McMahon all laughed at the question.

Johns took responsibility.

“It’s entirely my fault,” he said.

“She told me what to wear in the morning and I think I packed in the dark.”

He said he packed blue shorts instead of teal.

He also said he did not have a black shirt.

“It was a catastrophe this morning, I take full responsibility,” Johns said.

Then he added his explanation.

“Blame being color blind and dressing in the dark.”

Waters interrupted him.

“I’m sorry you can’t blame your partial color blindness,” she said.

“He’s not actually color blind.”

Waters clarified that Johns is not partially color blind.

Johns has previously shared that Waters handles the fashion decisions for their partnership.

She establishes the color combinations.

Johns matches what she chooses.

So far this season, he has put together some very nice looks to complement Waters in mixed doubles.

But this look did not complement her at all.

His outfit was not bad on its own.

It just did not match hers.

The mismatch became a talking point on the broadcast and on social media.

The next day, during the round of 32, Johns played singles.

He walked onto the court in what observers called one of his best looks from the entire tournament.

Johns wore a combination of green, teal and white.

He wore JOOLA’s new green hat.

He wore a baby blue shirt.

He wore teal shorts.

He wore white compression sleeves.

He wore white crew socks.

He wore JOOLA court shoes.

The look was praised for its color combination.

The blue, teal and green worked together.

It looked sharp.

The styling was also noted.

Many players focus only on matching their top and bottom.

A good outfit also requires matching accessories.

Shoes, hat, socks and sleeves all need to coordinate.

The easiest way to achieve that is by wearing all white or all black accessories.

Johns wore all white accessories.

It worked.

This was the same player who, one day earlier, had blamed partial colorblindness for a fashion failure.

Now he was being praised for his outfit.

The turnaround was fast.

Johns had more than a fashion story at this tournament.

He also brought back a forgotten weapon.

During a singles match against Brandon French, Johns used a left-handed forehand.

Johns is a right-handed player.

He normally hits a forehand and a two-handed backhand.

But in this match, he hit several left-handed forehands.

They were effective.

After the match, Johns explained the shot.

Back in his tennis days, he preferred two forehands.

He brought that into pickleball early in his career.

He used it in men’s singles in 2016 and 2017.

Then his playing style changed.

In the early days of singles pickleball, rallies were built around powerful drives.

Johns later adopted a more tactical approach.

He started using drops and moving to the net to pressure opponents.

That style required him to hit backhand slices and backhand drops.

He stopped using his left hand.

He stopped hitting passing shots.

He would just drop the ball and come to the net.

That style worked for years.