
Waters pictured with Franklin paddle and Nike apparel in now-deleted social media post
Pictures from a now-deleted social media post appear to show Anna Leigh Waters playing with a Franklin paddle and dawning Nike apparel, as the pickleball community speculates about who the 18-year-old’s new paddle and apparel sponsors will be.
The post, published Monday morning by the Polo Club of Boca Raton’s Instagram account, appears to show Waters using a Franklin paddle with a strikingly similar shape to her Paddletek Bantam ALW-C model while wearing a variety of Nike products, most notably the multicolored Nike Zoom Challenger pickleball shoes.
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She is shown playing doubles alongside Anna Bright against Tanner Tomassi and Richard Livornese Jr.
Waters, of course, is a free agent in the paddle and apparel markets after her previous contracts with Paddletek (paddle) and Fila (apparel) ended in 2025.
These photos, then, point to a real possibility of the 172-time PPA gold medalist signing an apparel deal with Nike and a paddle deal with Franklin.
While it’s important to note that nothing has been announced yet, an official announcement is expected in the coming days.
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