Forbes: 30 Under 30 2023

 

Anna Leigh Waters became the youngest professional pickleball player in history at age 12 and the youngest tournament champion the same year; last year, she won her first national championship, in women's doubles, playing alongside her mother, Leigh Waters. (Read More) 

The 2023 30 Under 30 list itself shows how representation is changing in the sports world: Of the nominees selected by the judges, 16 are women, and 17 identify as people of color. And the honorees are breaking new ground in other ways as well.

Anna Leigh Waters is the top-ranked player in the ascendant sport of pickleball—at just 15. (Read More) 

Essentially Sports: Fast-Growing Racquet Sport Scripts History as 12-Year-Old American Player Easily Overtakes the Likes of Elite Tennis Stars

Leigh Waters - Torn ACL Injury

 

Today, Leigh Waters announced that due to a torn ACL injury that occurred during the U.S. Nationals, she will not be playing on the PPA Tour in 2023. (PPA Tour Facebook Post)  

2022 USA Pickleball Nationals | Pro Mixed Doubles (November 10, 2022)
Leigh Waters ACL Injury
Leigh Waters/Tyson McGuffin vs Maggie Remynse/Federico Staksrud 

NML Blog - Leigh Waters Out for All of 2023 With Torn ACL

November 11, 2022 Facebook Comment

Thank you everyone for thinking of me. I’ve had to withdraw from playing with AL today. In the next few days I’ll have a better idea of how long the road to recovery will be. Yesterday was tough-really tough. But the love I have received from all of you and fellow players has been amazing. Thank you 🙏

Anna Leigh Waters | 15 year old GOAT of Pickleball?

 

At 15 years old, she is absolutely dominating the Pickleball Scene with her most recent success of winning a Triple Crown at the 2022 Margaritaville USA Pickleball National Championships.

With a record of 156-13 for the 2022 season Anna Leigh is:

• ranked #1 in the world for Women's doubles with her mom
• ranked #1 in the world for Women's singles with almost double the points of the #2 ranked woman
• ranked #1 in Mixed Doubles at the time of the recording

2022 USA Pickleball National Championships

 

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Singles

00:00:00 Anna Leigh Waters vs Lea Jansen (Gold)

Doubles

3:19:19 Anna Leigh Waters/Catherine Parenteau vs Lea Jansen/Vivienne David

1:16:09 Anna Leigh Waters/Catherine Parenteau vs Jade Kawamoto/MIchelle Esquivel

Mixed Doubles

7:40 Anna Leigh Waters/Riley Newman vs Ryler DeHeart/Sarah Ansboury 1:38:39 Anna Leigh Waters/Riley Newman vs Dekel Bar/Jade Kawamoto (Highlights)

1:41:32 Leigh Waters/Tyson McGuffin vs Maggie Remynse/Federico Staksrud

1:21:54 Leigh Waters/Tyson McGuffin vs Jessie Irvine/Jay Devilliers

Media Coverage

• Triple Crown at the 2022 USA Pickleball National Championships (The Pickler)

• Professional players and celebrity investors all hoping to cash in on pickleball boom (Palm Springs Desert Sun) 

• Championship Sunday, USA Pickleball at IWTG (WESQ News Channel 3)

• Anna Leigh Waters talks to Sophie Chiche (SportsEdTV)

• 2022 Margaritaville USA Pickleball National Championships (WESQ Channel 3 News

• What makes Ben Johns so good (Desert Sun)

Anna Leigh Waters Pro Singles Titles, Triple Crowns

 

Anna Leigh Waters PRO WOMEN'S SINGLES TITLES

20) November 2022: Margaritaville USA Pickleball National Championships, Indian Wells, CA (Lea Jansen) (Highlight) (Highlights)

19) November 2022: PPA Texas Open, Rockwall, TX (Lea Jansen)

18) October 2022: PPA DC Open, Washington, DC (Catherine Parenteau)

17) October 2022: PPA Las Vegas Championships, Las Vegas, NV (Catherine Parenteau)

16) September 2022: PPA Peachtree Classic, Peachtree, GA (Callie Smith)

15) September 2022: PPA Baird Wealth Management Open, Cincinnati, OH (Lea Jansen)

14) August 2022: PPA Tournament Of Champions, Brigham City, UT (Lea Jansen)
13) May 2022: PPA Atlanta Open Atlanta, GA (Catherine Parenteau)
12) April 2022: PPA Red Rock, St. George, UT (Lea Jansen)
11) March 2022: PPA Austin Open, Austin, TX (Catherine Parenteau)
10) March 2022: PPA Riverland Open, Port St. Lucie, FL (Lea Jansen)

9) February 2022: PPA Ororo Indoor National Championships, Lakeville, MN (Irina Tereschenko)
8) February 2022: PPA Foot Solutions Arizona Grand Slam Mesa, AZ (Catherine Parenteau)
7) January 2022: PPA Carvana Desert Ridge Open Phoenix, AZ (Catherine Parenteau)
6) December 2021: Margaritaville USA Pickleball National Championships, Indian Wells, CA (Jill Braverman)
5) November 2021: PPA Masters, La Quinta, CA (Lea Jansen)
4) October 2021: PPA Texas Open Shootout, Rockwell, TX (Lea Jansen)
3) September 2021: PPA Orlando Cup, Orlando, FL (Lea Jansen)
2) August 2021: Tournaments Of Champions, Brigham City, UT (Callie Smith)
1) August 2021: PPA Takeya Showcase, Newport Beach, CA (Catherine Parenteau) 

2022 Triple Crowns

March: PPA Riverland Open

5:20:33 Women’s Singles: Anna Leigh Waters vs. Lea Jansen (11-2,11-8,11-0) (Interview)
17:33 Mixed Doubles: Ben Johns/Anna Leigh Waters vs. Jessie Irvine/Jay Devillers (11-2,11-4,11-3) (Interview)
3:15:14 Women’s Doubles: Anna Leigh Waters/Leigh Waters vs. Jessie Irvine/ Catherine Parenteau #TeamWaters (12-10,11-6,11-8) (Interview) Commentary: Lea Jansen

April: PPA Red Rock Open

10:57 Lucy Kovolova/Callie Jo Smith vs Anna Leigh Waters/Leigh Waters #TeamWaters 4:06:38 Lea Jansen vs Anna Leigh Waters #AL 4:46:59 Ben Johns/Anna Leigh Waters vs Riley Newman/Catherine Parenteau

August: PPA Tournament Of Champions

2:04:05 (1) Anna Leigh Waters vs. (3) Lea Jansen (Interview) (Highlight, Highlight2+)

0:01(2) Anna Leigh Waters/Ben Johns vs. (5) Callie Smith/AJ Koller

4:44 (1) Lucy Kovalova/Callie Smith vs. (2) Leigh Waters/Anna Leigh Waters Commentary: Lea Jansen/Dave Fleming (Interview) (Highlight+, Highlight2, Highlight3)

September: PPA Peachtree Classic

33:19 Anna Leigh Waters vs Callie Smith 3:01:55 Anna Leigh Waters/Leigh Waters vs Jessie Irvine/Anna Bright 4:54:41 Anna Leigh Waters/Ben Johns vs Riley Newman/Catherine Parenteau

October: PPA Las Vegas Championships

1:08:16 Anna Leigh Waters/Ben Johns vs Catherine Parenteau/JW Johnson (Interview) 2:28:11 Anna Leigh Waters/Leigh Waters vs Anna Bright/Parris Todd (Interview) 5:56:00 Anna Leigh Waters vs Catherine Parenteau (Interview)

November: PPA Texas Open

2:22:38 Anna Leigh Waters/Leigh Waters vs. Anna Bright/Jessie Irvine (Stats) 5:33:57 Anna Leigh Waters vs. Lea Jansen 6:09:12 Anna Leigh Waters/Ben Johns vs. Riley Newman/Catherine Parenteau (Stats)

November: Margaritaville USA Pickleball National Championships 

Video: Anna Leigh Waters/Chatherine Parenteau vs Anna Bright/Jessie Irvine

Anna Leigh Waters vs. Lea Jansen (Highlight) (Highlights)

Video: Anna Leigh Waters/Riley Newman vs Ben Johns/Catherine Parenteau (Highlight)

SportsEdTV Interview

NOTE: Match videos will be posted when available.

Triple Crown at the 2022 USA Pickleball National Championships

 

No one, however, had a better Nationals than the #1 seed, 15-year-old Anna Leigh Waters, who is continuously separating herself from the pack. (2022 Pro Medalists)

Anna Leigh Waters Takes Gold in Women’s Singles

Nationals started with the singles events for the pro players. Anna Leigh made quick work to get to Championship Sunday, and then to win the championship (which each gold medal match featured a best 3 out of 5 game format). In fact, Anna Leigh did not even lose a game throughout the bracket.

First-Time Partnership Makes a Comeback for Gold

Turning to women’s doubles, Anna Leigh lost her usual partner—her mother, Leigh Waters—to injury during bracket play for mixed doubles. Although Anna Leigh seemed to be having knee pain in a previous recent tournament, it was Leigh that tweaked her knee when going for a backhanded poach on the courts with her partner Tyson McGuffin. This injury landed Leigh off the court and in a wheelchair to recover. As a result, Catherine Parenteau moved to fill the spot to play with Anna Leigh. This move required Parenteau to drop her partner Allyce Jones in order to play with Anna Leigh, leaving Jones without a partner to play with at Nationals, and resulting in quite a bit of controversy that was aired out and discussed over social media by pros and fans alike. (Read More)

Professional players and celebrity investors all hoping to cash in on pickleball boom

Palm Springs Desert Sun

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Celebrity influx

Anna Leigh Waters, the 15-year-old superstar who proved again that she is the unquestioned top women's player by winning the triple crown in the desert on Sunday with championships in women's singles, women's doubles and mixed doubles, said she can't believe what's become of her life in the past year. 

"We're starting to get on national TV networks now and starting to see some really big sponsors get into the sport, it's just really cool to be a part of," Waters said. "It's really been a dream come true, and now to have big celebrities wanting to get involved, it's kind of crazy." 

Waters said it's almost comical to think of the idea of being a pickleball celebrity, but it's real. She said she gets recognized on the street now and celebrities follow her on Instagram. She's had the opportunity to play pickleball with some of her idols like Michael Phelps.

"Mark Cuban followed me on Instagram, and that was pretty amazing because I've been a big fan of them all growing up," she said.  

I responded by asking Waters, "Oh, you're a fan of the Dallas Mavericks?"

And she said "No, Shark Tank." (Read More)

Championship Sunday, USA Pickleball at IWTG

 

Anna Leigh Waters is the pickleball phenom at just 15 years old. She usually plays alongside her mom, Leigh, but Leigh has to withdraw due to a knee injury suffered on Friday.

Waters won the women's singles gold medal earlier in the day --and won the doubles title in five games!

Truly the present and future of the sport. 

Anna Leigh Waters talks to Sophie Chiche (SportsEdTV)

Anna Leigh Waters talks to Sophie Chiche (SportsEdTV) 

0:11 How is it possible for you to be so famous...so young? 1:01 Is having your mom with you helping you balance everything? 1:12 Didn't you start at your grandfather's house? 1:53 Where do you get your "incredible force"? 2:43 What do you do after a match/day? 3:10 Where do you think pickleball is going? 3:24 Are you mentoring other kids? 4:01 Watching you play with your mom....

Interview Transcript

#USAPickleball #Margaritaville #IndianWellsTennisGarden #WatchUsGrow #USAPickleballNationals #pickleballnationals