
Anna Leigh Waters becomes winningest player in PPA Tour history
Top seed Anna Leigh Waters became the winningest player in PPA Tour history after securing an 11-4, 12-10 victory over No. 2 seed Kate Fahey in the women's singles final at the Jenius Bank Pickleball World Championships on Sunday.
The 18-year-old officially surpassed Ben Johns with her 168th career gold medal.
The triumph over Fahey also earned Waters her 38th Triple Crown after claiming mixed doubles and women's doubles crowns earlier in the day alongside Johns and Anna Bright, respectively.
It also marked Waters' third Triple Crown in a row.
"I'm feeling so much gratitude, so much happiness," said Waters, who hasn't lost a singles match in 529 days. "This was a 3,000, so if there's one tournament I wanted to Triple Crown, it was definitely this one."
The magnitude of these milestones certainly isn't lost on Waters, especially when the competition is growing increasingly fierce in every discipline.
Winning with this kind of consistency is always a tall task.
"I'm extremely proud. I think one problem with this is if I don't win all three [for a Triple Crown], then I feel like I've had a terrible tournament, but that's obviously not the case, and my mom reminds me of that all the time," shared Waters. "Just winning three is amazing. You never know when it's going to be your last Triple Crown, so every time I really try to cherish the moment. I don't take any match for granted, especially not on Sunday. When Kate missed that last ball, I almost started crying because I was so happy. I just put so much pressure on myself for this week, really wanting to do well and fighting through a lot of different things, so I'm really proud of myself."
As far as the secret behind Waters' success is concerned, there's really no magic formula.
She was definitely born for this, though, and the numbers prove it.
"I think it's honestly something that I was just very gifted, so thank you God for giving me this amazing gift. But, it's also a lot of hard work. It's a combination of talent and hard work. You know what they say, if talent doesn't work hard, working hard wins, so I think when you have both, it's really special. I know that, and I know that I have to keep working hard," explained Waters. "I don't put myself on a pedestal. That's for sure."
As far as celebrating her latest accomplishments goes, Waters is keeping it simple.
She wouldn't have it any other way.
"I want some ice cream tonight," said Waters with a laugh. "That's probably the first thing that I'll be doing."
Sounds like a plan.
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