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

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Leigh Waters (@waters_pb)

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 

2022 Margaritaville USA Pickleball National Championships

Watch KESQ News Channel 3 News Report 

Leigh Waters: Playing with my daughter has been the most amazing experience. I have so much confidence playing next to her. I get to watch her grow as a person and player and then win with her. What other sport could I do that in? Anna Leigh Waters #AL: It's just an amazing facility and I think that makes people happy to get to play Pickleball in an amazing facility. You get distracted because by the views with the mountains sometimes because it is so beautiful. But, I think everyone is in a good mood. It's sunny. We're playing Pickleball. We're having a good time.

What makes Ben Johns so good

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by PPA TOUR (@ppatour)

Even a pro sport that's just getting started can have a GOAT (greatest of all time), and for the sport of pickleball that man is Ben Johns.

Johns is only 23, but no one has had as much success at the pro level as he has.
He has more than 50 Professional Pickleball Association titles. On nine different occasions, he's pulled off the triple crown at a tournament (winning singles, doubles and mixed doubles). He's been the No. 1-ranked player in all three disciplines for most of the last three years, and the jewel of his GOAT crown is an insane 108-match winning streak in singles.
His mixed doubles partner, uber-talented 15-year-old pickleball star Anna Leigh Waters weighed in on what makes Johns the best around.

"It's his pickleball IQ, definitely," she said. "He knows what shot to hit at the right time always. He knows when to speed it up, he knows when to dink it. Just getting to play with him and see the way his mind works is really cool because his mind works way different than any other player." - Desert Sun

2022 PPA Texas Open

 

 

Doubles 

2:22:38 Anna Leigh Waters/Leigh Waters vs. Anna Bright/Jessie Irvine Gold (Stats) (Highlight Reel)

4:05:47 Anna Leigh Waters/Leigh Waters vs Yana Grechkina/Carolina Mayorga-Perry 7:07:15 Anna Leigh Waters/Leigh Waters vs Lea Jansen/Catherine Parenteau (Highlights)

Singles 5:33:57 Anna Leigh Waters vs. Lea Jansen (Gold)

Anna Leigh Waters vs Maria Lopez 11-0, 11-0 4:18:42 Anna Leigh Waters vs Anna Bright 7:41:28 Anna Leigh Waters vs Salome Devidze

Mixed Doubles 6:09:12 Ben Johns/Anna Leigh Waters vs. Riley Newman/Catherine Parenteau (Gold)

(Stats) (Highlight, Highlight, Highlight)

8:23:15 Anna Leigh Waters/Ben Johns vs Tyson McGiffin/Leigh Waters

56:23 Ben Johns/Anna Leigh Water vs Lacy Schneemann/Julian Arnold

29:19 Ben Johns/Anna Leigh Water vs Spencer Smith/Allyce Jones

PPA Article: Triple Crowns, Knee Injuries, And Shotgun Beers