Dominance Embodied: An Inside Look at the Pickleball Records Anna Leigh Waters Currently Holds
Anna Leigh Waters at 18 years old is regarded as the GOAT in women’s pickleball. And the scary thing is she’s still so young, which means she’ll only get better and better and better. That’s certainly a scary thought for someone who has been so dominant already.
Just to give you a peek into how dominant Anna Leigh Waters has been in women’s competition, consider this fact: She is already the all-time leader in championships won in Singles, Doubles, and Mixed.
Women’s Singles
Before Anna Leigh Waters came along, Simone Jardim was the yardstick in the women’s game, and her six titles, all won in 2020 and 2021, was proof of it. Waters, though, has surpassed her already, having done so back in February 2022 when she won her seventh career Singles title at the National Indoor Championships. Now, Anna Leigh Water has 57 Singles titles and will definitely be adding more in the years to come.
Women’s Doubles
The 18-yer-old American is equally dominant in Women’s Doubles, where her 55 titles are by far the most in the division. Jardim was the former queen here as well with her 14 titles as of the Texas Open in September 2021. Lucy Kovalova, however, passed her in February 2022 at the Arizona Slam with her 15th Women’s Doubles title. She then added six more to bring the record up to 21.
Anna Leigh Waters has obviously surpassed that record, doing so in August 2023 at the Takeya Showcase when she won her 22nd title in Women’s Doubles. In the two years since, Waters has added 33 more to her career total.
Mixed Doubles
Simone Jardim, again, was the previous standard even in Mixed Doubles as she won 12—her last coming at the Rocky Mountain Championships in August 2021. Anna Leigh Waters has since surpassed Jardim here as well, breaking the record at the Hertz National Championships in December 2022. She has since extended it to 59 titles overall.
Needless to say, Anna Leigh Waters is in a class all by herself in women’s pickleball. She is the embodiment of dominance, the standard-bearer of the distaff side. And, at just 18 years young, she’ll only add to what is already an already legendary career.
When all is said and done, this young lady might hold pickleball records that will never be broken.
