
Johnson siblings overcome Bright, Bar in five games for first PPA title together since 2023
Jorja and JW Johnson closed out what might go down as the best Championship Sunday in PPA Tour history with an 11-1, 9-11, 11-6, 9-11, 11-4 victory over Anna Bright/Dekel Bar.
Bright and Bar were coming off a massive semifinal victory over top seeds Anna Leigh Waters/Ben Johns, but the Johnson siblings countered their attacks well and proved to be too much in the end.
Jorja put forth an especially impressive effort and found success generating offense from the right side at key moments.
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“I went in with a lot of confidence after an earlier win in the women’s doubles bronze medal match, so that always helps,” she said. “It mostly comes down to trust. I trust my shots, and I trust my partner.”
The No. 2 seeds found themselves trailing 3-4 in the deciding game, but they reeled off eight straight points on a single side out to close out the epic encounter that lasted just under two hours long.
JW spoke about the importance of fitness in marathon matches.
“You definitely have to train for it,” he shared. “We do a lot of fitness all the time back home in Florida, and we mostly play outside there as well. That helps us feel pretty good for matches like this.”
Despite two five-game losses on Sunday, Bright is holding her head high after a stellar week in Mesa.
“I’d be lying to say I’m super happy, but there’s still definitely a ton to be proud of from the week for both of us,” she mentioned. “It’s tough to make finals. The fields are so deep, and even though we didn’t win today, everything came down to the wire.”
In the bronze medal match, Anna Leigh Waters/Ben Johns dominated Catherine Parenteau/Federico Staksrud by an 11-0, 11-1 score line.
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