Jackie Kawamoto and Jade Kawamoto celebrating their title at the Veolia Cincinnati Showcase presented by Six Zero.
Jackie Kawamoto and Jade Kawamoto celebrating their title at the Veolia Cincinnati Showcase presented by Six Zero. PPA Tour

Kawamoto sisters complete comeback over Johnson, Black for first PPA title

Over the course of the past 48 hours, Jackie Kawamoto and Jade Kawamoto have pulled off two of the most impressive comebacks in PPA women’s doubles history.

In Saturday’s semifinal, they overcame a 4-9 Game 3 deficit to take out top seeds Anna Leigh Waters/Anna Bright. And on Sunday, they grinded out a win after dropping the first two games against No. 4 seeds Jorja Johnson/Tyra Black.

With those performances—capped by an 8-11, 7-11, 11-6, 11-8, 11-7 victory on Sunday—the twin sisters have now captured their first PPA Tour titles.

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Jackie says that adopting a more aggressive game style after losing the first two games helped ignite the comeback.

“Down 0-2, we just knew we had to do a better job of getting into net. We were struggling on our thirds, and we were like ‘Screw it, let’s just crash on the fifths and see what happens.’ That gave us the edge a little bit and put us on the offensive,” she told Pickleballtv’s Kamryn Blackwood and Matt Manasse.

This triumph is made even more special by the fact that both Kawamoto sisters played college tennis at the University of Dayton, which is less than an hour outside of Cincinnati.

“We’re just so happy that we could do this in front of this crowd,” Jackie mentioned. “Our parents and a lot of our friends from Indiana and Ohio are here, and it just means so much.”

On the other side, Johnson/Black fell just short of earning their second straight title together. One challenge for the No. 4 seeds this week came from Black not being able to use her usual paddle due to UPA-A paddle regulations that went into effect at the beginning of September.

Given the circumstances, Johnson is more than pleased with a runner-up finish.

“I think all things considered, we did great this weekend. If you know you know, but we’re really proud of this result and just happy to be here on Sunday.”

Waters/Bright will take on No. 2 seeds Parris Todd/Catherine Parenteau in the bronze medal match later Sunday afternoon.