Hot weather conditions did not stop the hot play of Anna Bright and Anna Leigh Waters as they each snagged two gold medals in North Carolina. Bright won mixed doubles with Hayden Patriquin, Waters won women’s singles, and together they won women’s doubles. Just the week before, Bright and Waters had battled it out against each other at the MLP championship; this week, as partners again, they dominated as usual.

 

 

Bright and Waters rarely lose, but will this season be the year they go undefeated? They cruised in North Carolina, only losing 28 points in 11 games. In the final, they easily defeated their main rivals, Jorja Johnson and Tyra Black, 11-5, 11-6, 11-3.  Both Bright and Waters played very well all MLP season, and if they continue to play their best, an undefeated season will go from improbable to possible to likely. Bright’s offensive prowess prevents teams from freezing out Waters. And if Waters gets enough balls, that is bad news for the opponent. Surprisingly, no opponents tried a lob-heavy strategy against Bright and Waters. An unconventional strategy is one method to try to throw a superior opponent off their game. Right now, opponents are just playing straight up, standard pickleball against Bright andWaters, and that is a recipe for defeat.

 

 

 

Anna Leigh Waters continued her years long singles streak with an easy win in North Carolina. She played 10 games on the road to victory, and she held her opponent to either zero or one point in eight of those 10 games. Kate Fahey was the only opponent to score more than five points in any one game, losing in the final 11-1, 11-9. Fahey is playing better than she ever has and still could not take a game. Right now, I would say the odds are that Waters will go undefeated in 2026-27. The only obstacle appears to be herself through illness or injury.

 

 

 

After a successful entry into MLP, Sofia Sewing joined the PPA Tour in North Carolina. Her level of play was encouraging for her future. In singles, her best event, Sewing made the quarterfinals, losing to Fahey. Sewing had three singles victories, including wins over tough opponents Liz Truluck and Kiora Kunimoto. Sewing is already a top 10 singles player. In mixed doubles, Sewing and Casey Diamond had a match point against #10 seeds Catherine Parenteau and Riley Newman, before losing 12-10 in the third game. As Sewing starts to accumulate ranking points, she will get higher seeding and easier draws. In women’s doubles, Sewing played with Parenteau and reached the quarterfinals before losing to Rachel Rohrabacher and Parris Todd, 12-10, 11-5.

 

Two quarterfinals and a near upset of a high seed is a pretty good first time out for anyone. Expect good things for Sewing the rest of the year.

 

 

 

With the start of the 2026-27 season, a number of the top men chose to switch around their partnerships, Christian Alshon is back with Andrei Daescu, Hayden Patriquin is back with Federico Staksrud, JW Johnson has switched to Tama Shimabukuro, and CJ Klinger was now with Will Howells. But, at the top, Ben Johns and Gabe Tardio are still together and still winning. Johns and Tardio took the gold medal, although it was not the easy breeze that Bright and Waters experienced. Klinger and Howells took Johns and Tardio to three, Patriquin and Staksrud had several game points in the first game of their semifinal match, and Alshon and Daescu took a game in the gold medal final.

 

 

Johns and Tardio remain the cream of the crop in men’s doubles, but there are a lot of opponents nipping at their heels. Unlike in women’s doubles, there is no talk that Johns and Tardio will go undefeated all season.

 

The next stop on the PPA Tour takes us to Arizona and the Veolia Arizona Open beginning September 14. It should be a warm one again, although without the humidity of North Carolina. All the top players will be in action again. It will all be televised on Pickleballtv.

 

Follow me on X @pickleball_jim for updates.