Anna Leigh Waters went the distance earlier in the day in women’s doubles, so it’s only fitting that she did the same thing in the women’s singles final. She came back from the brink of defeat for a 4-11, 11-9, 11-5 victory over No. 3 seed Brooke Buckner.

Things did not start off well for Waters. She got down 0-7 in the opening game, thanks to some uncharacteristic errors from her side and near-flawless play from Buckner that caused her to eventually drop Game 1.

As Buckner has established herself among the top women’s singles players in pickleball over the past year, she has become most recognizable for her power and depth on baseline drives. But the difference-maker for the former University of Michigan tennis star early on was her play at the kitchen line.

“It’s something I’ve been working on, for sure. I think as the depth of women’s singles has gotten so much better, I knew that I wasn’t going to get by just passing people from the baseline because that’s what I relied on so heavily,” Buckner noted. “Those shots are still there, but as everybody gets better and more athletic, it wasn’t gonna work. I realized that I was either gonna lose more or I was gonna improve coming forward.”    

That improvement was certainly evident in Sunday’s clash, as Buckner opened up a 9-4 lead in the second game to bring Waters to within just two points of defeat.

But the World No. 1 would not go down.

Waters found another level and made a conscious decision to come into net more, which helped her end Game 2 on a seven-point run and somehow send the contest to a third game.

“[Brooke] hits so hard but is also very consistent, so I felt like I was on my heels from the first point. That’s why I felt like when I started coming in it was a lot easier because I wasn’t having to deal with those super hard groundies and wasn’t getting pushed super far back,” she explained. “I was just kind of taking balls early and trying to push my shots deep and then get into more of the cat-and-mouse game, which I feel like is more of my strength.”

The teenage phenom didn’t look back after stealing the second game and comfortably took Game 3 to secure her second comeback victory of the day on Humana Championship Court.

In the bronze medal match, Kate Fahey defeated Kaitlyn Christian by an 11-5, 11-3 score line.