You’re going to win most matches where you pickle your opponents in one game, but not all of them.

That’s a lesson that Anna Leigh Waters and Ben Johns nearly had to learn the hard way in their 11-0, 7-11, 11-8 victory over Anna Bright/Hayden Patriquin in the mixed doubles semifinals.

The top seeds achieved an 11-0 pickle in the opening game in just ten minutes thanks to a lackluster performance from their opponents, but the match got much more complicated from there.

Bright/Patriquin showcased commendable resilience to take the second game and even got up 8-4 in Game 3, but Waters/Johns went on to score the contest’s final seven points to take the win and advance to Carvana Championship Sunday in front of a sold-out crowd.

Johns talked about the mindset that helped him find his form after a lapse in level in the match’s middle stages.

“I feel like particularly at the end of Game 2, I made like four unforced errors. That’s too many for one game, let alone the ending stages of a game, so in Game 3, even though they were putting it on and got a fair lead, I was just telling myself, ‘Don’t go out by unforced errors,’” he told Pickleballtv’s Ireland Horvat. “I was just trying to put balls in the court and once we were at the line, put pressure on them. I feel we may not have done that the entirety of the third game, but at least we did it at the end and that’s what matters.”

Waters/Johns will face Rachel Rohrabacher/Christian Alshon—who they beat in pool play in three games on Friday—in Sunday's final.