Anna Leigh Waters Defends Triple Crown at Opendoor Pickleball World Championships as JW Johnson, Tama Shimabukuro Stage Epic Comeback
Some players win titles. Pickleball GOAT and recent Southeast Asia visitor Anna Leigh Waters collects them in bunches. On Championship Sunday at the Opendoor Pickleball World Championships, the 19-year-old defended her Triple Crown from last year by winning Women’s Doubles, Mixed Doubles, and Women’s Singles at Brookhaven Country Club in Texas, and she did it after playing the first two events back to back.
Anna Leigh Waters’ Triple Crown: Three Titles, One Gruelling Day
A Triple Crown means winning Singles, Men’s or Women’s Doubles, and Mixed Doubles at the same event. For Anna Leigh Waters, it’s now her 46th.
Mixed Doubles (with Ben Johns): Waters and Johns opened the day against No. 3 seeds Jorja Johnson and JW Johnson, and it was no walkover. They won 9-11, 11-6, 11-9, 3-11, 11-4 in a battle that lasted more than two hours. The pair had beaten the same opponents 11-4, 11-4 at the Veolia Chicago Cup, but this time they had to work much harder.
Women’s Doubles (with Anna Bright): Next came a straight-games win, 11-4, 11-9, 11-5, over Sofia Sewing and Catherine Parenteau, who played inspired pickleball. It was Waters and Bright’s 18th straight tournament title together, a new record on the PPA Tour. Their run includes the Hang Seng Bank Hong Kong Slam, where they beat Tyra Black and Jorja Johnson for gold earlier this month.
Women’s Singles: Even after playing eight doubles games earlier in the day, Waters seemed unable to miss. She dominated Kate Fahey 11-3, 11-2 for her 300th career PPA Tour singles win, and her third title of the day.
Tama Shimabukuro and JW Johnson Complete an Epic Comeback
If Waters’ day was about dominance, the Men’s Doubles was about drama. JW Johnson and Tama Shimabukuro beat Christian Alshon and Andrei Daescu 5-11, 5-11, 11-4, 11-8, 11-4, a match-of-the-year candidate that went over two hours.
Alshon and Daescu looked to be in full control after taking the first two games comfortably. But Johnson and Shimabukuro fought back with the help of an energetic crowd and took the last three games to win their first title as a partnership.
It’s a nice moment for Shimabukuro, who finished runner-up in men’s singles at the Hang Seng Bank Hong Kong Slam only weeks earlier.
Goins Goes Back-to-Back in Men’s Singles
In Men’s Singles, John Lucian Goins won his second consecutive title with an 11-5, 12-10 victory over Jack Sock. Sock had looked destined for his first PPA Tour singles title after beating Federico Staksrud, Roscoe Bellamy and Hunter Johnson on his way to the final. But Goins kept his cool in the big moments to win the biggest title of his career.
The Day in Numbers
| Event | Champions | Score |
|---|---|---|
| Mixed Doubles | Anna Leigh Waters / Ben Johns | 9-11, 11-6, 11-9, 3-11, 11-4 |
| Men’s Singles | John Lucian Goins | 11-5, 12-10 |
| Women’s Doubles | Anna Leigh Waters / Anna Bright | 11-4, 11-9, 11-5 |
| Men’s Doubles | JW Johnson / Tama Shimabukuro | 5-11, 5-11, 11-4, 11-8, 11-4 |
| Women’s Singles | Anna Leigh Waters | 11-3, 11-2 |
It was an epic end to the biggest event of the year, and for Anna Leigh Waters, another reminder of why she’s the standard everyone else is chasing.
