Kate Fahey
At a glance
- Tour
- PPA
- Age
- 30
- Handedness
- right
- Hometown
- Fair Haven, NJ
- Slams won
- 0
- Women's world rank
- #8
- Singles rank
- Not confirmed
- Doubles rank
- Not confirmed
- Mixed rank
- Not confirmed
- Paddle sponsor
- JOOLA — Agassi Pro V
Rankings checked against the PPA on Sep 7, 2026. Fields marked “Not confirmed” are ones we could not verify at that date, not evidence the player is unranked.
Kate Fahey is World #2 in women's singles — the player most regularly across the net from Anna Leigh Waters in 2026, with four singles finals appearances and counting.
Career
A 3-time tennis All-American and 2-time Big Ten Player of the Year at the University of Michigan, Fahey was Michigan's career singles wins leader with 132 wins (.815 winning percentage). She turned WTA pro (career-high #492 doubles, #505 singles) before a wrist injury ended her tennis career.
She picked up pickleball in summer 2023, and by January 2026 she was ranked #2 in PPA women's singles. She plays the JOOLA Agassi Pro V — the same paddle wielded by Lea Jansen and Brooke Buckner as part of JOOLA's Agassi Team athlete program.
Playing style
Right-handed. The tennis baseline conditioning is the engine — she rallies longer and runs down more balls than most of her peers. The kitchen-line touch is what she's still refining; ALW's domination of their head-to-head series in 2026 has been driven by the soft game more than power.
Off-court
Resides in Charlotte, NC. Coaches at her family's tennis academy in New Jersey in the off-season.