PEACHTREE CORNERS, GA - Saturday afternoon gave pickleball fans one of the most intense matches of the year, along with one of the most fiercely contested endings of all time.

Both came from the same match: the women’s doubles semifinal featuring No. 9 seeds Andrea Koop and Jade Kawamoto taking on No. 4 seeds Lea Jansen and Callie Smith.

The match began outside on Humana Championship Court, where Jansen and Smith got an 8-4 lead in Game 2 after Koop and Kawamoto took Game 1.

When play was forced indoors because of rain for the second time on Saturday, the No. 4 seeds closed out that second game 11-4 to force Game 3.

Players switched sides in the third game with Jansen and Smith leading 6-3, but Koop and Kawamoto went on a run out of the side switch to grab an 8-7 lead of their own.

The two teams continued to trade blows late into Game 3, as each player’s level rose with the stakes.

The thrilling match eventually ended on a close out call on the baseline from Koop and Kawamoto, prompting heavy protest from Jansen and Smith. No challenges were available as a result of the match being played on the indoor courts.

“Andrea and I both saw it out,” Kawamoto said of the match-ending call. “I know things were a little feisty all game, but we are confident with our call.”

This is the third consecutive three-game victory for the No. 9 seeds, and they now find themselves in the final of the largest PPA Tour event to date after an 11-8, 4-11, 12-10 triumph.

“I know Jade and I have been working hard in our respective hometowns,” Koop said of the preparation that went into making this impressive run happen. “We’ve played a couple of times already this year and haven’t had the results we wanted, but we felt like we were getting better and felt like those results would come.”

Now, they certainly have.

Koop and Kawamoto will face the winner of the match between Anna Leigh Waters and Catherine Parenteau and Etta Wright and Meghan Dizon in Sunday’s gold medal match.