PPA Takeya Showcase Newport Beach

 

Highlight Reel (15+ mins) Gold Medal Singles Match

Highlight Reel (8+ mins)

Highlight Reel (5+ mins)

History Is Made

By winning this match, Anna Leigh became the youngest player ever win a Professional Pickleball Singles title. 

Gold Medal Match: Catherine Parenteau vs Anna Leigh Waters, 14   

News Article: Pro Pickleball Tour Serves Winners in Newport Beach

Video: Singles

Highlight Point - "Best Point Of The Match" Dave Weinbach

53:12 Anna Leigh Waters vs Irina Tereshenko

Video: Doubles

1:25:27 Lucy Kovalova/Simone Jardim vs Anna Leigh Waters/Leigh Waters

6:35:23 Anna Leigh Waters/Leigh Waters vs Jill Braverman/Susannah Barr (Bronze Medal Match)

Video: Mixed Doubles

25:16 Anna Leigh Waters/Tyson McGuffin vs Casey Chan/Ben McMakin

4:04:55 Catherine Parenteau/Riley Newman vs Anna Leigh Waters/Tyson McGuffin

Blog Post

Championship Rematch in Round One 

The first round for defending PPA Champion, Lea Jansen, was against Anna-Leigh Waters, the Silver Medalist in the Orange County Cup. These two would likely meet in the final in there was a back draw.

With this PPA format this opening match will be a huge decider on who will end up with Gold. Technically this is considered a quarterfinal match but still feels early in the day to see these two play. This time around, it was all Waters. She was all over the court showing full control of her ground strokes. 

On a side to side point, she ran down a ball and ripped a backhand winner reminiscent of Rafa Nadal. Her stuff was too good throughout the match and won it in two games 11-3, 11-4. 

 On the other side of the draw, Callie Smith defeated Lauren Stratman in round one. She withdrew in the semi-final which allowed Catherine Parenteau to qualify for the Gold Medal Match after a single win over Annica Cooper. 

Parenteau will meet either Irina Tereschenko or Waters on Championship Sunday. The way things are looking right now, I don’t see anyone stopping Waters from playing on Sunday. (The Dink: PPA Takeya Showcase Singles Day) 

Pickle Relish - Under lockdown, Americans of all ages have been spicing things up with a fun new pastime

Torrance Memorial News

Lara Marmelstein had been a highly ranked (5.0) tennis player for more than 30 years when a buddy introduced her to a new racquet sport with a silly name: pickleball. The 54-year-old nurse from San Juan Capistrano was instantly hooked.

“I love, love, love, love pickleball!” Marmelstein gushes. “I love it so much that I gave up tennis. I look forward to playing pickleball until I’m 100.”

She means that literally. With its compact court and low-force volleys, pickleball is senior-friendly and uniquely well-suited for intergenerational play.

“There’s less emphasis on running than in tennis. You can sort of hop over to one side or the other. That’s why older people and children can play,” says Marmelstein, who took up pickleball in 2015.

She had no trouble selling her 85-year-old mother, Mary Lou McCauley, and sister Kelley Mayeda on the sport. The fever quickly spread to Mayeda’s adult sons, Mac and Jacob, and Marmelstein’s own adult children, Mitchel and McKenna. Another sister, Marlo Blandford, and brother-in-law Johnny have since embraced the family pastime.

Marmelstein, who worked at Torrance Memorial for a decade before moving to Orange County in 2000, returns to the South Bay every week. By long-standing tradition, she and her siblings, their spouses and offspring gather on Thursdays at mom’s house in Redondo Beach for “family night.” Then bright and early Friday morning, these self-described “pickleheads” take to the courts at Manhattan Heights Park or Hermosa Beach.

“It’s such a neat thing that I can play with my 85-year-old mom and my 30-year-old nephew. I could never do that in tennis,” says Marmelstein, who plays pickleball five times a week. Her skill-level rating is 4.5 on a scale of 6. Pro level starts at 5.5. 

Tournament age brackets go from preteens to seniors. One of the world’s top pro players is 14-year-old Anna Leigh Waters of Delray Beach, Florida. (Read More)

Team Waters Takes Pickleball on Vacation in Costa Rica | Pickler Blog

TEAM WATERS TAKES PICKLEBALL ON VACATION IN COSTA RICA

by Leigh Waters 

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Pickler (@picklerpickleball)

Since returning to professional pickleball this year, after taking a long COVID hiatus, we (Anna Leigh and I) have been traveling the country for pickleball tournaments. But, one thing that we have not done in a really long time is take a family vacation... until now. (Read Article)

PPA 2021 Live Underground Invitational

 

PPA 2021 Live Underground Invitational

11:20 Catherine Parenteau/Anna Leigh Waters vs Simone Jardim/Lucy Kovalova (Commentary: Jessie Irvine) 2:00:24 Anna Leigh Waters joins Scott Golden in the booth 2:09:54 Rob Nunnery/Jessie Irvine vs Ryan Sherry/Leigh Waters (Commentary: Anna Leigh Waters) 3:07:35 Simone Jardim/Jessie Irvine vs Anna Leigh Waters/Leigh Waters (Commentary: Lucy Kovalova)

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.