The story of the PPA Virginia Cup that concluded over the weekend was none other than the great Anna Leigh Waters, who is to women’s pickleball what Ben Johns is to the men’s game.
Waters, who has numerous gold medals to her name, added three more at the PPA Virginia Cup as she completed her 36th Triple Crown. But she didn’t just win three titles in Virginia; she also dominated the competition, leaving no doubt that she is among the greatest the sport has ever seen.
Take the Mixed Doubles crown Waters won, for instance. Waters and fellow GOAT Ben Johns all but breezed through the competition, holding their opponents to under four points per game. And it’s not as if Waters and Johns played no-good foes. They played quality opponents but still made them look vastly inferior. To wit, Layne Sleeth and James Ignatowich scored just five points. Riley Newman and Catherine Parenteau tallied seven points. Tina Pisnik and Andrei Daescu got to 11. Jorja and JW Johnson earned a combined 16 points in three games in the Finals.
In total, Johns and Waters have won six consecutive Mixed Doubles titles dating back to May and 10 of 12 in 2025.
Waters was just as dominant doing it on her own, destroying everyone she faced in Women’s Singles by an average scoreline of 11–5. Along the way, she beat highly fancied rivals like Catherine Parenteau, Parris Todd, and Brooke Buckner to win another gold. Buckner at least made Waters sweat, though, extending her in the first game, 12–10, and putting up a valiant effort in the second game before ultimately losing, 11–6.
In Women’s Doubles, Waters and partner Anna Bright got back to their winning ways, dominating the division by an average scoreline of 11–2 on their way to another title. The pair’s gold-medal finish comes on the heels of two consecutive tournaments where they failed to win gold. But Waters and Bright came back with a vengeance in the PPA Virginia Cup with a dominant display they highlighted with an 11–1, 11–3 spanking of Parenteau and Jade Kawamoto in the Semis and a commanding 11–3, 11–1, 11–3 victory over Jorja Johnson and Rachel Rohrabacher in the Finals.
Needless to say, Anna Leigh Waters made the PPA Virginia Cup her own personal stomping ground and proved yet again why she’s the GOAT of the women’s game.
