Jorja and JW Johnson just pulled off a massive upset in Cary, North Carolina.

The No. 3 seeds stunned Anna Leigh Waters and Ben Johns in Saturday night's mixed doubles semifinal at the Veolia Pickleball National Championships, overcoming a lopsided opening game to win 4-11, 11-9, 11-6 and send themselves to Championship Sunday.

Just like that, there will be no triple crown opportunity for Waters at the first event of the new PPA Tour season (Johns was already denied his shot at a triple after losing to John Lucien Goins in men's singles earlier in the week)

The Johnsons do it again

Perhaps the most remarkable part of the upset is that we've seen this before.

Waters and Johns also lost a PPA Tour mixed doubles match back in April 6, 2025 — also in Cary, and also against Jorja and JW Johnson. Their only other loss of the season was to Anna Bright and Hayden Patriquin at the 2026 Carvana Mesa Cup.

On that occasion, the Johnsons defeated the powerhouse duo 8-11, 11-7, 11-6, 3-11, 11-8 in the North Carolina Open final.

Waters and Johns went on to win their next five PPA events together in 2025, and their dominance continued from there (with the exception of PPA Mesa).

There is apparently something about Cary — and the Johnson siblings — that gives the most dominant mixed doubles partnership in pickleball trouble.

When Jorja was reminded afterward that she and JW had now taken down the No. 1 seeds in Cary in consecutive years, she had a theory.

"I think it's the crowd. They really showed up and showed out every single time."

She then thanked the fans who stuck around despite the rain and said they were behind the siblings throughout the match.

From 11-4 to an upset

Early on, there wasn't much indication another Cary upset was coming.

Waters and Johns cruised through Game 1, 11-4, as the Johnsons struggled with an unusually high number of errors. The broadcast noted that their unforced error count was approaching double digits.

Then the match completely flipped.

Jorja began taking over stretches of play with big shots and fearless counters against Waters and Johns. Her performance eventually prompted the broadcast booth to declare:

"Welcome to the Jorja Freaking Johnson show."

JW was equally disruptive, using his reach and anticipation in the middle while repeatedly finding openings against Johns.

The siblings edged out Game 2, 11-9, then grabbed a 6-2 advantage in the deciding game and never surrendered the lead.

Waters and Johns made a late push, but the Johnsons kept finding answers.

At 9-6, Jorja delivered another huge sequence at the kitchen, prompting the commentators to note that the Johnsons weren't simply surviving against the top seeds anymore.

"They are dictating at the line."

A failed Waters challenge eventually gave the Johnsons match point at 10-6, and they closed it out shortly thereafter.

11-6. Match over. Upset complete.

"We have seen Ben and Anna Leigh so many times wiggle out of situations like this," the broadcast noted afterward. "Not this time."

"Definitely no weaknesses at all"

Afterward, JW was asked what weaknesses he and Jorja had identified in Waters and Johns that allowed them to pull off the upset.

His answer probably says everything about the magnitude of the win.

"Definitely no weaknesses at all."

Instead, JW said their focus was on themselves.

"We were just trying to play our A-game, stick to the strategy and keep going. And, well, now we're here."

The Johnsons have been one of the few teams capable of consistently pushing Waters and Johns over the years, but actually beating them has remained exceedingly rare. Before Saturday, Waters and Johns held a 22-2 head-to-head advantage over the siblings in recorded mixed doubles meetings.

Now the Johnsons have another signature victory — and once again, it happened in Cary.

Still, JW wasn't interested in celebrating for too long.

Asked how much confidence beating the top seeds gives them heading into Championship Sunday, he kept it simple.

"You can't get comfortable, can't get complacent. Just go out, new mindset, new match."

Then came the message for Sunday:

"Job's not done."