Inside MLP Podcast Ep 35 All Things Anna Leigh Waters!

 

1. 1:36 What keeps your passion for the sport going?
2. 2:19 How did you get so good, so fast?
3. 3:22 Not wanting to be bullied.
4. 6:06 If they killed you with kindness....
5. 7:10 I've chirped at you....
6. 8:27 How much pressure do you feel to stay on the top?
7. 10:19 How often do you meet with your mental coach?
8. 12:45 What is it like being a pro athlete at 16 years old? School? Sponsors? College?
9. 12:38 Travel Schedule
10. 17:35 Let's hear your week
11. 22:09 A week before a tournament - mostly drilling
12. 22:30 Drilling vs Playing Games
13. 24:01 Team ALW
14. 27:15 MLP: You were drafted by the 5's
15. 28:35 The 5's draft picks
16. 30:48 San Clemente is two weeks away.
17. 32:01 What does it feel like when you rip a winner against a Tyson McGuffin....
18. 33:41 Preparing for San Clemente
19. 35:48 Jack Sock
20. 37:44 You and him....you win....
21. 40:00 Did you watch his men's doubles match?
22. 41:05 You let Jack Sock be Jack Sock....
23. 43:24 Playing with Ben Johns vs Jack Sock
24. 45:23 Let's say Jack Sock goes all in for Pickleball. Who is your mixed doubles partner?
25. 46:14 Women's Doubles? Is mom coming back at some point?
26. 48:27 What if the 12 year old wonder kids comes along....
27. 49:48 Younger kids looking up to you....
28. 50:48 Tears

Young Phenom Anna Leigh Waters Takes the Pickleball World By Storm

16-Year-Old Pickleball Prodigy Discusses Her Rapid Rise to the Top, Dealing with Bullies, and Inspiring the Next Generation

At just 16 years old, Anna Leigh Waters has already accomplished more in pickleball than most players do in a lifetime. Ranked #1 in the world, Waters has amassed an astounding 14 Triple Crown titles along with a host of other championships. Her meteoric rise to the top of this rapidly growing sport has made her one of pickleball's most dominant and recognizable young stars.

With her signature blend of mental toughness, competitive spirit, and incredible natural talent, Waters has become a role model for aspiring players of all ages. She's also helped bring unprecedented attention and legitimacy to pickleball, earning her a spot on Forbes' prestigious 30 Under 30 list.

In this exclusive interview, Waters opens up about her rapid development into a phenom, how she deals with pressure and heckling on the court, her intense training regimen, and her aspirations for growing pickleball. With insightful answers belying her years, Waters provides a fascinating look inside the mind and world of a champion in the making. At just 16, her career is only just getting started, and her potential seems limitless.

1:36 What keeps your passion for the sport going?

Waters: I just think it's fun and I'm out there you know trying different things just trying to maybe find something that can improve my game more because everybody can always get better and I think that's something that I've always been told growing up is that even if you're the best you can always get better so I try to keep that in my mind and have fun with it as I go.

2:19 How did you get so good, so fast compared to learning to play Pickleball five years ago?

Waters: A lot of it was just my mental aspect of it from the beginning. I'm really mentally strong on the court and I feel like at a young age that's something you have to have if you're gonna compete at like a top level. So ever since I've grown up I've just been you know super super into it super mentally strong while I was on the court. I think that just gave me an edge over my competitors.

3:22 Not wanting to be bullied.

Waters: Well I feel like the court in general is just smaller than like a tennis court or other racket sports I guess so you're really close to your opponent so not just when I play but when everybody's playing you know you see some chirping you see people really getting into it and you know sometimes it doesn't you don't even mean it to happen but you know you're so close to your opponents you know your emotions just kind of get the best of you sometimes but I've noticed ever since I was younger that it's kind of been a little bit more geared towards me like I'll see somebody from the first point just start and try to get in my head and I kind of know that they're trying to get in my head it almost like fires me to play better because it gets me angry and when I'm angry I play my best. So yeah maybe that's a strategy.

6:06 If they killed you with kindness....

Waters: Honestly I think it might it was funny because I was doing it he's like he's like don't poke the bear there talking about me like we were like if we're sleeping just let us sleep like you know what I mean. So it's tough too like I have some really good friends on tour and when I play them it matches sometimes it gets in your head because you really like the person you're playing against so it's hard to you know get to that you know fiery position. So yeah maybe that's a strategy okay well somebody will have to try it out and then report back to us on whether or not it was successful.

7:10 I've chirped at you....

Waters: I like I like thumbs up that's part of it you know yeah I've been on a court with you before Anna Lee and I've chirped at you in fun and I feel like everyone was laughing yeah so I think you do enjoy it yeah yeah yeah yeah we did we did um no your mom was because you were in jean shorts and untied Gucci tennis shoes I think is that what you were wearing and maybe and we were at those that's right you know I have it on my Wikipedia it's on my Wikipedia page and everything so yes yes that's what's online yeah she sneakers untied yeah you guys stopped by uh Legacy to like say hi I don't even think you guys were planning on playing and then you got like roped into some games and uh yeah Lee wasn't playing because uh it was way too hot and I think she was in like long pants so yeah yeah you weren't so but I used that to my advantage like I read the situation perfectly and I was like here's my moment to shine um so yeah I think you enjoy it when it's all in good fun.

8:27 How much pressure do you feel to stay on the top?

Waters: I would say so yeah um just because pickleball like it's a major part of my life and I do it almost every day so I'm constantly thinking about pickleball and with that constantly thinking about tournaments and you know that aspect of it and it definitely is like this pressure and it's very different from because I've seen both sides of it you know I was coming up trying to be the top players at one point and now I kind of am the top player and people are so I know both sides of it and it's different kinds of pressure because when you're coming up um when you're playing those top players you can just play really loose and relaxed and you know you're not expected to beat them so you can go in there and you know play your game whereas when you're the top you know you're expected to be that person so then maybe you get a little tense up and you know maybe make the wrong decisions.

So I was struggling that a lot um when I first became number one in singles. And I remember this match I was playing I was up two games. I was up in the third it was three out of five when they used to do three out of five singles and I ended up losing the match and I just remember it was because I just felt that pressure so after that match I told my parents I was like I want a mental coach so we got a mental coach his name is Jack Llewellyn and he really helped me kind of turn the pressure around and focus it more on you know I shouldn't have the pressure they should have the pressure because they have to beat me you know like I'm number one I'm supposed to win and I'm supposed to win for a reason and I feel like just going into matches I kind of have a different mindset now of I get to show people why I'm number one and why I should win this match and I just go out there have fun with it and show everybody you know why you're so good.

And I think just turning that around in my mind maybe it's not true but I like to think that and just just you know that little switch has made a huge difference in my pickleball career.

10:19 How often do you meet with your mental coach?

Waters: I call him anytime that maybe like before it's been I'll do a little checkup if I'm feeling good and then maybe during the tournament if I can feel something going on I'll call him um he's great though because you know no matter what time of the day I can call him if it's 2 A.M he'll still answer uh he's a really great guy and he's helped me a lot um but recently I haven't had to use them as much because I'm starting to learn on my own how to kind of deal with it and in the long run that's what he wants is you know to me to be able to do it myself.

12:45 What is it like being a pro athlete at 16 years old? School? Sponsors? College?

Waters: It's really cool actually because I just finished uh two days ago or yeah two days ago I finished 11th grade. So I'm finally a senior that's so crazy I'm excited but this summer I think I'm gonna try to do a couple classes so that I can finish um high school by December of this year and then I don't have to worry about that uh as of college I think I'm gonna hold off as long as pickleball keeps doing what it's doing and I'm still doing pretty good uh the opportunities that I'm receiving right now in the sponsorships uh are just too great to like imagine you're in college right now.

But at College will always be there so if I want to go back and do college then it'll always be there I can do some online courses but I'm really excited after this year to just be able to like focus on pickleball and not have to like focus on school too.

12:38 Travel Schedule

Waters: I've homeschool homeschool since third grade so when I started when I moved to Florida when my family moved to Florida we didn't know what schools were great around here so there's some where I used to live and then we loved homeschooling so much and I was just playing so many different sports uh at the time I was playing tennis soccer uh haven't hadn't found pickleball yet at third grade but I was just like enjoying not having to go to school and being able to do other things and it really worked out because my grandma was a teacher for a long time so she just taught me at home it was a great Bonnie experience for me and her I guess.

So when I found pickleball it was just kind of you know really easy to transition into that traveling. And then now with the traveling I would say I do school Monday Tuesday Wednesday and then I'll play the tournament I try not to do school while I'm at the tournament because then it's it's really difficult I've done it at one tournament and I regretted it and just very much like inhibited my performance like I finished learning physics and yeah like literally I was doing chemistry like you like me and then I'd get home and like do Labs at my house and like the chemicals are saying like could cause cancer and I'm like great this is amazing so oh my gosh it was crazy doing chemistry while being on the road let's just put it that way.

17:35 Let's hear your week

Waters: Let's do both yeah let's do both so no pickleball tournament oh pickleball tournament okay whatever you want so Monday is usually okay like my rest day if I have had a pickleball tournament the week before and then Tuesday in the morning I'll usually do a little bit of school and then Tuesday I'll go to my trainer and do like a recovery session in the gym and then I'll come back do more school in the afternoon and then when how much how how long is that how long is that like give us like times like recovery session and what does that entail well Recovery Center okay two hours.

School I would say in the morning I'll do school until so I'll probably do school from 7 30 or 8 until 11 30 and then gym from 12 to 2 get back at 2 30 do school from 2 30 to 5. And then I'll eat dinner at five o'clock is usually my end point I can't really do anything at five I can't even play Pickleball past five unless I'm at a tournament so at five o'clock is my that's your curfew yeah and then like I'll go to sleep anywhere from 8 to 9 30 usually like I go to bed pretty early um because I need sleep yeah and then Wednesday maybe I'll play Pickleball maybe not usually I don't play Pickleball for like three days after a tournament though because I'm just pickleballed out um which I didn't used to think would be a thing but when you play as many tournaments as I do three days off is a good is a good number yeah.

So then Thursday I'll do some schools wait wait till you're like 45 and then you're gonna need like if you did a full tournament you need like a week off after that yeah sometimes with like all the sponsors and stuff from pickleball and like my obligations with like podcasts and stuff like this like that like the MLB one um I do a lot of like shoots I've been having a lot of shoots recently so like let's just say Thursday have a shoot and those are usually like six seven hours a day so I'll do that and then uh maybe I'll play Pickleball in the afternoon so maybe I don't do school one of the days and then Friday Saturday Sunday I'll grind the school again because like I said sometimes like my Thursday will be a Saturday.

22:09 A week before a tournament - mostly drilling

Waters: I'll do mostly drilling that week and then that Monday Tuesday I'll play tables and then that Wednesday I'll do a little Girling before I go out okay and when you're on a court I'm just trying to get the full recipe here because like if I decide like at some point that I really want to dedicate my life to it what uh what percentage of the time when you're on a court are you drilling versus playing games?

I would say 60 to 70 Drilling and then 30 to 40. Okay um singles wise I'll probably play more singles that's double singles I would say it's probably flip 60 70 on playing games and then that 30 I'm drilling singles I don't really drill singles too much unless I need to work on something.

22:30 Drilling vs Playing Games

Waters: Pretty much like I'm drilling single thirds because I'll go I'll go Every Which Way um the only time I'll really drill singles is ground strokes because that's the only thing you don't really do in doubles like you volume doubles you play the cat and mouse in doubles um but you really don't hate ground strokes and doubles that's the thing it's not really a thing that you do so I'll usually drill ground strokes maybe hit a bucket of serves my serve's gotten better finally um so practice that a little bit maybe some returns but they're pretty much they have very similar components it's just kind of like using them differently so that's why I feel like games are better for me because I'm using the same shots just in a different way.

24:01 Team ALW

Waters: I would say that's my grandparents come with me so they're there mainly for like support and it's just nice to you know have a lot of family at tournaments so I would say that's their role and then my mom obviously is coach and Mom and so many other things so she's kind of like mom in the morning and then when I get to the courts and everything she's more coach.

And it's so different but she knows when to use like the different hats it's great I don't know how she does it honestly okay in the morning like she's like talking about breakfast and then we get to the course and she's like all right annaly this is how you're gonna beat so and so like this is what you're gonna do it's she just like flips the switch and she's totally different. And I love it and then my dad nobody like take offense to this because this is a joke but we call him Waterboy um Waterboy no I'm my family's water boy too that's right yeah so it's kind of a contest for me to see how many pieces of luggage I can carry yeah that's it that's us poor time's getting it closer to like the venue if he can he'll go get water change smart like whatever I need he's there.

So I don't know what I could do without my whole family in a tournament honestly I have so much to do on my own it'd be crazy I don't know how some people do it. And then sometimes my trainer will come not that often though he's more of when I come home and like he'll send me like programs to do while I'm away and then my mental coach is on my phone so he's always there he actually came to the Atlanta tournament.

27:15 MLP: You were drafted by the 5's

Waters: I'm honestly I don't know how there can be a better team in major league pickleball like I'm so thankful that I got drafted by the fives. Ryan Harwood the GM he's kind of like taken our team under his wing and it's he's just amazing I love him he's a great person even when I'm not playing MLP he still contacts me he helps me with a lot of things.

So he's just a great guy in general and I'm glad that I got to know him through MLP so thank you MLP for that. But I feel like our team as a whole is just so cool because we have so many different personalities on our team and then we have like garyvee coming to the events and we have Ryan on the sidelines he's super energetic we have my mom coaching and then there's all four of us so there's just so many components to our team that like makes it exciting.

28:35 The 5's draft picks

Waters: So Ryan this time me and was like I just you know picked you or I got connected through MLP and he's like you know I just picked you number one overall pick I was actually in Vegas eating lunch I had no idea. So I get this FaceTime call and you know we're trying to figure out who to draft.

So I really helped pick the like I picked James I think James was the second pick on our team. And I kind of let him pick the guy his male partner because obviously I had a little say in it but I thought you know it would be good to give James like the pit because I don't want him playing with someone he doesn't you know want to play with and he was like I think Hayden's a good option and I was like yeah because not only can are you comfortable playing men's with him but he's really good at Singles and Leia and Hayden have played mix tournaments together so I was like oh this is perfect like you know he would be the perfect guy on our team.

So I kind of let James you know do his thing on the men's side but I I was like I agreed with him on that and then I picked my woman I picked Leia. I have a really good relationship with Leia on and off the court so I was you know really happy that she was still on the table and I could pick her. But I think a big thing with MLP and teams is just making sure you're comfortable with your teammates so I really wanted to make sure that everybody was comfortable with each other on her on our time.

30:48 San Clemente is two weeks away. What do you think it is about your group that has it in them this particular go around that you guys can make that that jump this event?

Waters: I feel like our team has the ability like we have the ability to win every single MLP this season so far and something that I think has happened to our team is not everyone on our team is playing well at the same time like the last two events everybody was playing great but at like we never together like we were never all playing really well together so I feel like you know one tournament a couple of us were playing better the second tournament a couple of us were playing better um so it's kind of split but I feel like this event is when we're all gonna kind of gel and play really well together.

So you know I feel like it's our time and everybody is just feeling really good we're all really comfortable with each other I feel like we have the strategy down now and it's just you know time for us to kind of gel together and for all of us to play all of us just need to play like three quarters of our best and then I think we can win this one.

**32:01 What does it feel like when you rip a a clean winner against a Tyson McGuffin against whoever dude opponent is across from you?**

Waters: It's amazing well so when I practice singles I always practice against guys so I feel like that's one thing where like that no fear like want to play against the guys comes from is just even since I was little I always played singles against guys so going into like the MLP dream Breakers and when I'm playing against guys I just had like a lot of confidence out there and I feel like by you know going out there and just picking to play against a guy it automatically puts pressure on them because you know they're supposed to win like a majority of the points and I'm out there I'm like no no.

So I feel like my strategy is just to kind of like pull the guy to the net and then go for that passing shot and I'm just very confident in my passing shots so like when that happens it's just it's crazy because I know if I hit a winning passing shot my team's gonna go ballistic and I'm gonna get to like go over there and share that energy so just like the feeling of being like a five six female against sometimes like a 6-2 guy and just like straight up passing them they don't even get a paddle on it that feeling is just crazy and I remember against Tyson and that dream burger like I did the chess thing and like that was like an out of body experience I don't even remember doing that I just remember like being so excited and like it was just crazy like I'm getting like cold chills now just thinking about it because it's just so electric at MLPs so when you do something like that like the energy you get from the crowd in your team is just like unbeatable.

33:41 Preparing for San Clemente

Waters: Yes just we have a group team group chat going and I feel like just the texting that's been going on in that group chat is just we're all like more serious like we were always serious but now we like know we have to win to be the top two team two teams so I feel like we're just like we're ready for it and we're kind of like hyping ourselves up for that moment.

As far as like practice and strategy wise goes because there's the PPA before that MLP and they're at the same facility all of us are just staying and practicing we're just gonna stay through that next week for the week just for those couple days like I think it's like four days. And Leia is not playing the PPA San Clemente to get ready for MLP so just from that aspect of it our team is just more serious I feel like everybody is like all right you know we can do this we all believe we can do this now it's just time for us to execute so we're just gonna you know get out those kings because we haven't played together in a little bit after that PPA and then we're gonna go in and we're gonna kick some butt and we're gonna win I can feel it.

35:48 Jack Sock

Waters: I just I think it's just up to him and what he wants to do with tennis and pickleball like if he wants to go all in quite yet or if maybe he is going to play MLP but it won't be this next season it'll be next year so I don't know what he's gonna do with that.

And it'll be interesting to see how he how he gets drafted if he gets drafted Premiere if he gets drafted Challenger so it'll be interesting to see what happens there too. But he did a pretty good showing in the mixed doubles with us so you know who knows we'll see what what he decides to do.

37:44 You and him....you win....

Waters: I feel like the mixed doubles day was his first day getting into a pickleball tournament so it was good for him to just kind of you know break the ice get in determined see what it's like before he played mix so I feel like that singles run helped him in our mixed doubles because it was the first day so he kind of knew what a pickleball tournament was like.

Also mix they're all so different they're like different sports honestly it's crazy like the strategy that goes into it how different they are and in mixed doubles you can really the guy can really attack the female um and a lot of females don't like you know the aggression side of it especially in mixed doubles because even some females who play in women's doubles and crush the ball and mixed doubles they play very different.

So I feel like he just kind of went out there and was like I don't know what pickleball strategy is but I'm just gonna hit it as hard as I can. And like that was kind of like his his game plan and I that was kind of what I told him to do I was like dude don't worry about the dinking stuff don't do that just hit the ball as hard as you can you're like I'll clean up what you speed up thanks just go ahead yeah literally I was like speed up any ball you can anywhere I was like I don't care that's that's how we're gonna win is just being aggressive it's awesome.

So um we kind of did that we did a lot of shaking and baking and we just kind of had fun with it we were talking we were you know super into it and I feel like just the energy that we had was kind of like intimidating our opponents. So I feel like we not only intimidated them with how hard we're riding the ball but also with you know just having fun out there because there's nothing worse than playing a team who's having fun and laughing and they're beating you it's like it's very annoying so that we were kind of like trying to like do that we were like let's just have fun and like see what happens.

So I it was just like a super low pressure kind of day we were just having fun out there ripping the ball and I think that really helped not only him to feel more comfortable but honestly need to feel more comfortable out there.

40:00 Did you watch his men's doubles match?

Waters: I didn't watch the match first yeah I mean I don't know in pickleball things happen every single time I show up anywhere I'm like I'm done for the day and I'm out I guess I'll go home quick bye everyone yeah I don't remember I don't know yeah my my perspective was and I I just watched the stream but I watched pretty much everything that Jack sock had done and my perspective was that you let Jack sock be Jack sock like you were like do what you want to do like there were moments where he was kind of getting you out of the way to hit the ball as hard as he could and you let him do it like you let him do it where I feel like I feel like him and McGuffin like there wasn't really like that like communication of like take what you want and hit as hard as you can I'll back off in these moments.

So there were probably moments in the Middle where they were a little more confused or maybe a little more timid not knowing versus you just were like just go out and rip It and be wherever you want to be.

41:05 You let Jack Sock be Jack Sock....

Waters: Well men in general very you know they want to take that middle ball and sometimes it can be a little confusing especially to like a new team but me and Tyson also play very differently like Tyson's a scrappy guy he you know is very consistent um you know he doesn't make many mistakes type thing and as of me I'm just gonna go for something and get in those hands battles.

So maybe Jack and Tyson just weren't on the same you know game plan as Jack was like I'm gonna go hit the ball as hard as I can and maybe Tyson was more of no we're gonna grind this point up I don't know what their strategy was going into it so that might have played a role too and just you know they had yeah interesting stories going into the match.

43:24 Playing with Ben Johns vs Jack Sock

Waters: I feel like both guys take on court which was something that was easy for me to adjust to because I was used to playing with Ben it takes a lot of court and Jack also takes a lot of Court both pretty big guys. So that was very similar.

On the other hand I feel like me and Jack kind of played mixed doubles as women's doubles like we were kind of out there you know like playing like a women's devil style and me and Ben play more of like that traditional mix double style so I feel like I really wasn't out of my comfort zone and either one it was just sort of like all right today feels more like a grip and rip It day and the next day feels more of like a think forehand cross-court speed up as a guy kind of day.

So I feel like I really wasn't out of my comfort zone and either one it was just sort of like all right today feels more like a grip and rip It day and the next day feels more of like a think forehand cross-court speed up as a guy kind of day. So uh it's just like I said that different strategy going into it and making sure you're on the same page with your partner.

I will say that me and Ben when I came back and played with Ben uh our first game I I was like I was a little confused I was like all right I was like yeah like this is this is I'm playing with Ben now this is what I kind of have to do differently so it did take like that game adjustment but after that I'm so comfortable playing been I've been playing with him for a year and I love playing with him uh he's best in the world obviously so it wasn't too hard to adjust to him just hitting winners all the time but uh um yeah it is a little bit different because Ben has a couple different shots than Jack does they both kind of have like their their strengths and weaknesses are different so I kind of had to adapt to that.

45:23 Let's say Jack Sock goes all in for Pickleball. Who is your mixed doubles partner?

Waters: Right now me and Ben have been pretty good together. So so as of now that's I'm playing with Ben the rest of the year and you know 2024 is that right yes 20 it's 20 23 right now next year uh probably be playing with Ben again since I was like 12 so we just had like a really cool really cool super low pressure and yeah he's got a million siblings so I'm I'm sure you just feel like a sister to him.

46:14 Women's Doubles? Is mom coming back at some point?

Waters: I'm trying to get my mom to come back I don't know what her indecision will be but I do know that she's gonna play at least one tournament with me coming back we were thinking about maybe doing like a national thing where she'll play like Nationals like every year with me for like as long as she can just because we want it was kind of like our first ever Big Win together.

And then we repeated it the next year so it's kind of like holds a special place in our heart so we might do something like that or she might come back and you know play all of next year uh as of if she doesn't if she ends up just playing one tournament and then she's done and does something else with her pickleball life I just like mixing up the women's partners for a couple reasons one it keeps it fresh when you're going to tournaments um you know when you go out there with one partner maybe you'll play a little bit differently than you do with the other so it keeps it fun and entertaining not only for me but for the crowds and you know people watching it's really interesting to see different matchups.

Also when you play with the same partner people can start to form strategies on how to beat you because they're seeing you repeatedly so like maybe one tournament you're I'm playing with Catherine and this is working but then I go play with Anna and it's not working anymore or the opposite this you know maybe works with me and Anna but it doesn't work against Catherine so it's hard to kind of form those strategies whereas if I was just playing with one person for three years you know they can just watch film and kind of see where we where we struggle and it's and it's it just gets repetitive.

So I just like mixing it up so maybe 2024 who knows what'll happen I don't know maybe I you know it's just crazy like pickleball you see all these new people coming into the game especially on the men's side you see a lot a lot of guys coming in and then the women you can start seeing but that's a little bit slower so you know who knows maybe in 2024 there'll be 100 new women and you know I won't even be playing like you never know.

48:27 What if the 12 year old wonder kids comes along....

Waters: I stand up to a lot of kids I meet I'm like you know never know maybe I'll be your partner I remember with Simone like when I was younger um it was kind of that thing where you know maybe she knew I was gonna be good maybe she didn't but I like met her when I was younger and I was around her a lot and she was you know the goat um of that time so it's kind of it's kind of crazy because you do meet the people that you end up playing against and I remember Kyle Yates said to me one day he was like you know maybe for my birthday I asked for a lesson from Kyle Yates so he came over to our side and gave me a lesson at the end he was like you know maybe you'll be my mixed doubles partner one day and it ended up being true and I played with them for a year so it's just cool how stuff like that happens and earlier this year I was playing singles and this girl uh was my who I played first round said you know I've watched you for you know three four years now and I've just you know you're my idol type thing and I ended up playing here in single so you know maybe I'll end up playing with her one day or maybe I'll play with Ben's younger sister one day you know who knows.

49:48 Younger kids looking up to you....

Waters: It's just so cool especially at tournaments when they'll come up to me and ask for autographs or pictures because when I used to go to pickleball tournaments there were no kids - literally I was the only kid at a pickleball tournament and now I go and I see so many so it's just you know it makes me happy to see all these new kids coming into the sport and not only you know are they coming into the sport but they're saying I was the reason that they came into the sport which is something that you know growing up I never thought would happen honestly and now it's happening and it's it's just really crazy and hard to believe but I try my best to grow the game in as many ways as possible and this year kind of my goal is to figure out how to do that even on like a higher scale and on a higher level.

50:48 Tears

Waters: Yeah I mean I'm like tearing up thinking about it because it's it makes people it doesn't feel like work it literally it would have been to the sport and you know playing with their parents and meeting new people it's just like a it's a great outlet for kids to do and and just get to have fun with it and their families honestly I can see how much it touched them.

Summary

16-year-old Anna Leigh Waters has taken the pickleball world by storm, rapidly rising to become the top-ranked player despite her young age. Her mental strength, passion for the game, and ability to overcome pressure have fueled her success. Though dealing with bullying and heckling on court, Waters maintains a positive attitude and enjoys the competitive chirping. She feels pressure to stay on top but works with a mental coach to manage it. Extremely disciplined, Waters trains constantly, drills more than playing games, and maintains a strict schedule despite her youth. Her family, especially her mom/coach, provide crucial support in her journey. Waters was drafted by the 5s for Major League Pickleball and relishes playing mixed doubles with star Jack Sock. Inspiring the next generation of players, Waters graciously gives her time to kids and serves as a role model. With her prodigious talent and work ethic at just 16 years old, Anna Leigh Waters has a very bright future ahead.

Please write a 6,000+ word newspaper article in Q&A format in the style of the new york times sports reporter in an upbeat, positive tone. Quote Anna Leigh Waters throughout the article. Write a headline and sub-headline. Use the enclosed time code topic list in the article. Write each topic as a header. Number each topic. Include time codes for each topic after each topic header. Keep the time code numbers in consecutive order on the discussion list. Add a 300+ word topic summary under each header on the list. Write an intro and summary.