2021 PPA Orange County Cup

 

Pro Women's Doubles

Leigh Waters/Anna Leigh Waters vs Sydney Sonday/Yana Grechkina

2021 PPA San Clemente Orange County Cup

8:20 Lea Jansen vs Anna Leigh Waters (Highlight Reel 6+ mins) 3:15:01 Leigh Waters/Anna Leigh Waters vs Simone Jardim/Lucy Kovalova (Highlights, Top 10 Points)

Highlight Point - Michelle Esquivel: "She (#AL) is just painting. She is being artistic out there and placing that ball in every single spot where it gets Simone and Lucy out of position."

The Orange County Register (16 photos, 2 AL photos): Pickleball pros battle in San Clemente

NML Blog: PPA Orange County – 5 Takeaways – Phenom-enal

"(1) Phenom-enal (Slim) – I think it’s time to start asking the question, of when, not if Anna Leigh Waters, will become the best female player in the game. We are not the only one’s thinking this obviously, as Dave Weinbach and Scott Golden were talking about it on the broadcast this weekend. The talent is just undeniable, and it seems like she is just now coming into her own.

While she may not have had the defining gold medal performance this weekend, I thought she showed off her tremendous talent, competitiveness and potential in all three events. Her silver in the singles, an event she has just started playing more regularly, showed her raw potential there and she is is obviously just figuring out that game. Her fourth place run with Kyle Yates in mixed was very impressive as she was often the dominant player in their matches, and the ability of her hands to not okly hold up against but cause problems again for Riley Newman, widely considered to have some of the best hands in the game, is beyond impressive. Then in women’s doubles we saw her taking more court than ever as she and her mom grabbed silver. It has also been pretty cool to see the roles of the Waters switch this year with Anna Leigh becoming the dominant left side player, the role her mom used to hold.

The weekends performance made it pretty easy to see many potential future triple crowns in Anna Leigh’s future. With perhaps the only question there being, do she and Ben Johns team up? A question we have asked before, or does she find another top male, and perhaps attempt to be the first real threat Ben’s reign has faced?

Anna Leigh is still young, and obviously it sounds like there is a potential soccer passion that could slow down her pickleball career. However, if she keeps playing pickleball competitively, I think it is very clear that she is on track to quickly become the dominant women’s player in the game. She is definitely the games first true phenom."

Mixed Doubles

6:12 Lindsey Newman/Riley Newman vs Kyle Yates/Anna Leigh Waters 3:12:00 Dekel Bar/Leigh Waters vs Jessie Irvine/Jeff Warnick 6:02:04 Dekel Bar/Leigh Waters vs Matt Wright/Lucy Kovalova 7:49:31 Dekel Bar/Leigh Waters vs Kyle Yates/Anna Leigh Waters #TeamWaters 8:35:03 Kyle Yates/Anna Leigh Waters vs Lindsey Newman/Riley Newman (Bronze)

Tyson McGuffin/Callie Smith vs Kyle Yates/Anna Leigh Waters (Game to 15, 2-11 down)

Lauren Stratman/Pat Smith vs Anna Leigh Waters/Kyle Yates (Game to 15)

PPA Blog: Orange County Cup Mixed Doubles Produces Not So Mixed Results (Excerpts)

• Leigh Waters and Dekel Bar had an early upset over Catherine Parenteau and Morgan Evans 11-2, 11-3. Waters/Bar kept the momentum for another upset in the quarterfinals as they ended Jessie Irvine and Jeffrey Warnick’s hopes of Championship Sunday 12-10, 8-11, 11-6.
• The most entertaining match was Waters and Bar meeting Matt and Lucy in the semifinals. The match was relatively straightforward as Matt and Lucy won 11-1, 11-7; however, there were enough “Let’s Go” and “Com’on” yells between some great points to keep the crowd entertained. The feud continued after the match, which might usher in a new rivalry in the sport.
• Riley Newman and Lindsay Newman had to fight through Anna Leigh Waters and Kyle Yates as Anna Leigh drew big crowds.
• Riley Newman and Lindsay Newman took down Anna Leigh Waters and Kyle Yates to take home the bronze medal, but it looked like they are close to breaking up the traditional mixed doubles final match-up soon.

NML Blog: PPA Orange County – Live Blog (Excerpts)

• (Mixed) The Newman’s are too much. The conservative nature of Lindsey’s game is only a “criticism” in so much as it isn’t enough to beat literally the best mixed team in the world. Her ability to reset is astounding and it was just too much for Anna Leigh and Yates.
• Yates/Waters are still going as well and we’ll get a Waters v. Waters match to go to bronze, which can never be easy for either Waters player I don’t imagine.
• Anna Leigh Waters is so damn good. She’s the reason her and Yates had any chance against the Newmans and now they take down Tyson and Callie in the back draw. She is ridiculous and I don’t think enough people are realizing what a force she is.
• Warnick and Irvine’s disappointing year continues with a loss to Leigh Waters and Dekel Bar. Again, there is no reason Bar’s mixed results should not be better and Leigh is a very good player even if she does get a bit speed up happy in mixed. Quality win for them.
• (Singles) On the women’s side Anna Leigh Waters looked very impressive taking down Catherine Parenteau in her semi-final. Performances like this make me think it’s a question of when, not if, Anna Leigh will become the dominant women’s player in the game. Anna Leigh will see Lea Jansen who cruised through her matches today, in what should be an entertaining gold medal match on Sunday.

 

For the first time, Anna Leigh used her 

"chainsaw serve" at the Orange County Cup. 
3:27:45 - Anna Leigh Waters v.s. Callie Smith (Women's Singles - Quarterfinal)

PPA Blog: The inaugural Orange County Cup opened with an exciting day of singles that brought new faces for Ben Johns and Lea Jansen. (Excerpts)

The bottom half of the bracket didn’t offer much respite Callie Smith’s bye yielded the feisty Anna Leigh Waters. Anna Leigh Waters beat Callie Smith 11-9, 11-4 while Catherine Parenteau had her hands full with Jackie Urbinati. Jackie never let Catherine rest, ultimately falling 14-12, 10-12, 8-11. Anna Leigh Waters then took out Catherine Parenteau11-5, 11-4 to join Lea Jansen in the battle for Sunday’s Singles Gold.

 

5:09:32 - Catherine Parenteau v.s. Anna Leigh Waters (Women's Singles - Semifinal)

Dave Weinbach: "Oh, my! That is so good. Parenteau had total control of that point. For 98% of it. And Anna Leigh kept chasing balls down and hits an incredible winner. And she just does it again with the backhand down the line.

Wow! I don't know what else Catherine can do? She is playing really solid pickleball. But, Anna Leigh keeps pounding winner after winner. That is a good approach shot by Catherine. And Anna Leigh is just painting lines.... Anna Leigh is a play-maker!"

(See match Clip Anna Leigh Waters vs Catherine Parenteau) 

The McGuffin Show PICKLEBALL PODCAST Episode 16 - PPA 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 at the 2021 PPA Atlanta Open.

Anna Leigh and Tyson won a Bronze Medal in Pro Mixed Doubles at the 2021 PPA Atlanta Open.

Ask Coach Mike Show

 

2:16 How did pickleball find you? 3:46 Tell us about playing tennis. Did your mother encourage you to play? 5:16 How about your education? 5:50 Do you do the things that other teenagers do? 6:20 What is it like playing with your daughter? 7:33 What is it like playing with your mom? 8:06 Favorite memory? (2019 Nationals) 9:41 Tell us about your relationship with your mom on the court 11:06 Do you anticipate where each other will be? 12:15 Can you imagine not being a professional pickleball player? 12:48 Where do you think the sport is headed? 14:12 Do you see the PPA/APP putting on an international tournament? 14:42 If there was any place you could travel and play, where would you go? 16:17 What is your pre-game routine? 18:03 If you have a break for a couple of hours, how do you deal with that? 18:25 Do you see yourself playing with a female junior partner in your age group?

20:13 Anna Leigh was 12 when TeamWaters won nationals 21:02 I've heard that you have amazing support from your husband/dad. grandparents. How important is that? 23:03 How do you keep pickleball on the court and not bring the "fire" home? 25:18 How long did it take you to get over the Atlanta Open loss? 27:31 Where can you see your daughter going in the next 10 years in this sport? 29:40 Closing comments 32:43 Heckling?