Just GOAT Things: Anna Leigh Waters Wins Unprecedented 200th PPA Tour Title in Chicago as Roscoe Bellamy Stuns Chris Haworth
Another tournament, another milestone for Anna Leigh Waters. At this point, it’s fair to ask if there’s any record left for the 19-year-old to chase. Then again, she keeps finding new ones.
At the Veolia Chicago Cup, the PPA Tour’s first-ever stop in the Chicago area, Waters captured her 200th career PPA Tour title and then completed her record-extending 45th career Triple Crown. Meanwhile, Roscoe Bellamy pulled off the biggest upset of Championship Sunday by toppling top-seeded Chris Haworth in men’s singles.
Anna Leigh Waters Gets Her Number 200
The milestone had been a long time coming, at least by Waters’ standards. She arrived in Chicago sitting on 199 titles after being denied the 200th in Las Vegas, where she failed to win a title and sat out women’s singles.
There would be no denying her this time. Paired with Ben Johns in mixed doubles, Waters beat No. 3 seeds JW and Jorja Johnson, 11-4, 11-4, to make it officially 200. It was also the 66th mixed doubles title the pair have won together.
A Triple Crown, Complete with a Comeback
The rest of the Triple Crown wasn’t quite as smooth. Playing alongside Anna Bright in women’s doubles, Waters dropped the opening game to Catherine Parenteau and Hurricane Tyra Black, 2-11. The top seeds quickly regrouped, though, taking the next two games, 11-3 and 11-4.
She then capped off the day with a convincing 11-1, 11-7 win over Kate Fahey in women’s singles, securing her 45th career Triple Crown. After Las Vegas, it was an emphatic response, and another reminder that Waters is still rewriting the record books.
Bellamy Spoils Haworth’s Party
If Anna Leigh Waters’ victory was expected, Bellamy’s was anything but. Chris Haworth entered Championship Sunday as the favourite in men’s singles. He had just won the Arizona Open singles title two weeks earlier, and he’d demolished French qualifier Emilien Burnel, 11-1, 11-0, in the semifinals.
But Bellamy, the No. 4 seed, had other plans. After needing three games to get past John Lucian Goins in the semis, he took control of the final from the start, beating Haworth, 11-4, 11-5. Haworth managed just nine combined points across the two games.
It adds another name to an increasingly unpredictable men’s singles division. With Haworth, Federico Staksrud, Hunter Johnson, and now Bellamy all making headlines in the opening three tournaments of the new season, the race for the top is wide open.
Elsewhere in Chicago
Staksrud, for his part, didn’t leave empty-handed. He and Hayden Patriquin romped to the men’s doubles title, 11-1, 11-6, over No. 14 seeds Jaume Martinez Vich and Nico Acevedo, who were making their first final together. The tournament also saw Ben Johns and Jack Sock stunned in the Round of 32 by Anouar Braham and Bruno Faletto, a result that gave the lower seeds plenty to cheer about.
Held from 5 to 11 October at Life Time North Shore Sport and Racquet, the Veolia Chicago Cup was a PPA Cup-level event, with 1,500 ranking points going to each champion.
Indeed, between a teenager who keeps making history and a field that keeps producing surprises, the new PPA season is shaping up to be a good one.
