2021 PPA Atlanta Georgia Open

 

Pro Women's Doubles Semi-Final Highlight Reel (10+ mins)

Anna Leigh Waters/Leigh Waters vs Sarah Ansboury/Michelle Esquivel 

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#AL Atlanta Open Pro

Women's Singles Results

Anna Leigh Waters vs Jackie Urbinati 11-3,11-0 (W)

Anna Leigh Waters vs Irina Tereschenko 11-4,11-2 (W)

Anna Leigh Waters vs Lea Jansen 15-13, 12-10 (L)

Anna Leigh Waters vs Callie Smith 15-12 (L)

Mixed Doubles

Anna Leigh Waters/Tyson McGuffin Bronze Medal

39:38 Anna Leigh Waters/Tyson McGuffin vs Simone Jardim/Ben Johns (Highlights)

The McGuffin Show Pickleball Podcast - The Atlanta Open

On his podcast, The McGuffin Show, Tyson McGuffin, the number two ranked professional pickleball men's singles player in the world, talked about playing Pro Mixed Doubles with Anna Leigh for the first time.

Women's Doubles

17:35 Anna Leigh Waters/Leigh Waters vs Sarah Ansboury/Michelle Esquivel (Highlights)

Gold Medal Match Lucy Kovalova/Simone Jardim vs Leigh Waters/Anna Leigh Waters

Silver Medal Score: 11-6, 9-11, 11-3, 6-11, 11-6

Highlights: 5th Game, End 2/4 Games

PPA Atlanta Open Recap

Pickleball Fire May/June: Pickleball and Family: Mother’s Day Edition

 

Pickleball Fire Magazine May/June 2021
Pickleball and Family: Mother’s Day Edition By Leigh and Anna Leigh Waters

Hair Ball

 

Leigh's Facebook Post: WARNING: Do not, I repeat, DO NOT wear a ponytail while playing pickleball! You may just may lose the point AND the ball!! 😂🤪🤷‍♀️

Side Note: This actually happened!! AL tried to get out of the way of an aggressive attack and her ponytail caught the ball. We didn’t know where the ball went until she turned around. And then we all broke into histerics!!!

HOW TO HIT A TWO-HANDED BACKHAND TOPSPIN DINK with Anna Leigh Waters: APP Pickleball Academy EP. 9

In this episode of APP Pickleball Academy, Anna Leigh Waters joins Coach Dominic Catalano to break down the two-handed backhand topspin dink. Anna Leigh explains how, why, and when to hit this devastating shot that will keep your opponents on their toes.

Anna Leigh: One of my favorite shots beside the drive, of course, is my backhand roll from the kitchen.

Coach Dominic Catalano: Everybody wants to know how you hit this shot. It is a cross court two-handed roll dink. When you are hitting this shot, what's the first thing you're thinking about?

Anna Leigh: Well, I'm thinking about where I want to hit the roll.

There are a couple places you can hit it.

You can hit it in the middle

You can hit it at their feet or you can bring them out wide.

The only trouble with bringing them out wide is you have to make sure that it's almost like a deep out wide and not so much an angle so that they can go around the post because there are some problems with that.

But, I have my partner here to block that shot if that does happen.

Coach Dominic Catalano: What you are talking about is when you roll the shot you almost want to roll it to the kitchen line sideline tee. Right?

Anna Leigh: Right! Exactly! What you're aiming for is that they are backing up and having to hit up on the ball.

Coach Dominic Catalano: Okay! When they hit up on the ball, you are trying to get it at their feet. Who are you setting up?

Anna Leigh: I'm setting up either my partner down the line to maybe hit an ernie or an aggressive shot that will set up the put away.

Coach Dominic Catalano: Are you trying to be offensive with that shot?

Anna Leigh: That's the great thing about this shot because you can hit it on the offense but you can also hit it on the defense. It's almost easier for me to hit the shot when I'm on the

defense because they're pulling me out wide so I have more angle to hit that shot back cross court.

Coach Dominic Catalano: Why do you prefer that shot on defense?

Anna Leigh: Well, I feel like as I'm almost taking the step back to hit the shot. I can accelerate more which is going to create more spin on the ball and it's going to dip even more and maybe even give me more of an angle to hit that shot which makes it harder for the opponent to get it back.

Pickleball Happy Hour - Leigh and Anna Leigh Waters

 

Time Code Question List

7:08 Anna Leigh you are the youngest to be national champion in a major sport. What do you think about that, Anna Leigh? 8:12 What is it like to play as a mother/daughter? What impact does that have on you off the court as well as on? 2018 Texas Open TeamWaters vs Lucy Kovalova/Sarah Ansboury, 2019 Florida Grand Slam Simone Jardim / Corrine Carr vs Leigh Waters / Anna Leigh Waters 12:48 I don't think you're going to go through the terrible teens. You start playing with somebody in they are 10, 11, 12 and then maybe you're thinking what if they go through that terrible teens part. You just seem to have skipped that. Why do you think that is? 15:53 What do you say to yourself? You are the rip it ladies. I'm gonna rip one right at my mom. 17:30 (2021 US Open Mixed Doubles Match) Somebody in your family won. At the end of the day, that's pretty doggone good. But, still challenging personally. 18:55 You two ladies are setting the stage for how people can be in pickleball and...I don't want to say, "just be a pickleball player" I don't know how else to say it, except to say it that way. Because what you're doing is you're creating a brand. You're creating a business. So, you're doing things on and off the court that are going to support you in multiple ways. So, let's talk about the clothing line. i want you share the story. How that came about? Why you're doing these special pieces. You just take it from here and tell us. 22:43 Leigh talks about the clothing line she had for about 5 years. 23:50 Tell me the story behind the pattern? 25:29 Does Paddletek make that or does she (Lindsey ) make that? 28:45 You also have some items that are kind of one-of-a-kind things. Tell us about that. 29:15 What kind of material is that? 29:27 Tell me how those custom pieces work and how you put them out there. 31:15 The Waters Ripit Logo 32:13 Now, there is one that is my favorite visor. 33:14 This is the technical hat. 33:44 This is the trucker hat. 34:02 Beth: Are you going to have your line for a little larger ladies? 34:40 A longer shirt. 35:39 Is there anything else you want to share regarding your goals with the business side of pickleball? 37:40 Doing pickleball camps and clinics is grueling. 39:50 We did a camp in Doyle's town Pennsylvania (before COVID). 41:10 You haven't collaborated and created your own shoe yet have you? 42:48 Carley: I definitely have a question about the grip because I noticed you guys are doing the double-handed on the backhand and the forehand. 46:05 Beth is wondering about drilling practice weekly and what is it what do you focus on time and time again? 50:00 What are you doing different now? 52:35 What is your philosophy and how do you implement your strategy? 54:40 You're using that dink to set up a strategy. 55:57 Kathy: I've always used a two-handed backhand because it's easier for me. You said your power comes from your left is that true of all players because i'm a left-handed player. 56:50 Do you have a coach? 58:51 When we play Engage players he (Josh Elliott) doesn't coach us at all. 1:01:03 Karen: I was wondering how Anna Leigh is doing with her osgood schlatter? I noticed she wore a knee brace at the last tournament. So, is it still giving her some problems or pain or is she's just getting over it? (September 2021: Pickleball Forum Thread - Is Anna Leigh Waters wearing knee braces? are her knees already bad at 14yo??? ugh)

1:03:10 I know Leigh you can say you had a a calf issue....Leigh: and yeah and a back issue... 1:04:23 Carol: Who are each of your favorite Mixed Doubles partners and why?

Mother/Daughter Bond Creates Gold Medals and Golden Moments On The Pickleball Court For Professional National Champions Leigh and Anna Leigh Waters

 FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

 

              

Mother/Daughter Bond Creates Gold Medals and Golden Moments On The Pickleball Court For Professional National Champions Leigh and Anna Leigh Waters

DELRAY BEACH, FL (May 3, 2021) -- Last month at the Minto US OPEN Pickleball Championships, the Professional Women’s Doubles National Champions Leigh and her 14 year old daughter Anna Leigh faced each other in a mixed doubles match. As soon as Leigh and her partner Tyson McGuffin won the game, Leigh embraced her disappointed daughter on the court for an extended amount of time, whispering into the teenager’s ear. 

The mother/daughter duo explained their Golden Moment in a live stream interview with “In The Kitchen” host Scott Golden. 

Anna Leigh: There were a lot of emotions going on after that match.

Leigh: We have played against each other before and we have learned from our mistakes. The first couple of times we played it was very competitive and we both wanted to win and nobody wanted to lose to the other. 

Anna Leigh: And we have played each other in singles before, too.

Leigh: Yeah. We would have these moments that after the match is over, one goes here and the other goes there and it’s awkward. We have grown past that. We understand that somebody has to win and somebody has to lose.

Anna Leigh: It is kind-of-like the “Serena/Venus” thing going on.

Leigh: We understand at the end of the match that the most important aspect is that we are mother/daughter. Afterwards, I could tell that Anna Leigh was upset as I would have been if I had lost. I knew that if I could just grab her and get a hold of her and hug her and say a few things in her ear that it would help the situation. I think it did. Don’t you?

Anna Leigh: (Shakes her head smiling, yes.) I had ice cream afterwards. 

Leigh: At first I was saying: Don’t be upset. Don’t cry. It is okay. I wish you could have won, too. And then I said, “Do you want to go get an ice cream?”

Anna Leigh: Laughs and shakes her head.

Leigh: I was trying to say things that were funny. And finally, I got her to laugh. And when she laughed, I knew that we could move on.

In their interview (May 6, 2021) on the "Pickleball Happy Hour", Leigh and Anna Leigh explained their US Open mother/daughter moment in more detail.