Jorja Johnson and JW Johnson celebrate a point at the Selkirk Kansas City Open.
No. 2 seeds Jorja and JW Johnson dropped only one game across their four matches on Friday. PPA Tour

Waters and Johns, Johnson siblings to square off in mixed doubles final

OVERLAND PARK, KS - The No. 1 and No. 2 seeded mixed doubles teams fought their way to Championship Sunday at the Selkirk Kansas City Open.

Those rankings belong to the tandems of Anna Leigh Waters and Ben Johns and siblings Jorja and JW Johnson, respectively.

Both teams dropped only one game in four matches on Friday.

For Waters and Johns, that came against No. 6 seeds Etta Wright and Christian Alshon in a quarterfinal bout that will go down as one of the best mixed doubles matches of the year.

Wright and Alshon—who play together on the Texas Ranchers in Major League Pickleball—put forth an inspired effort, but the top seeds proved to be too much in the end.

In the semis, Waters and Johns eased past No. 25 seeds Parris Todd and Hunter Johnson 11-4, 11-8.

The Johnsons dropped the opening game of their Round of 16 match against No. 14 seeds Jade Kawamoto and Travis Rettenmaier.

They lost only one point across the final two games of that match and proceeded to secure dominant wins over the pairings of Meghan Dizon and Andrei Daescu and Catherine Parenteau and Federico Staksrud to give themselves a shot at the title.

 

The last time these two teams faced off was in the semifinals of the Select Medical Orange County Cup, the most recent PPA tournament. It was a wildly entertaining encounter eventually taken by Waters and Johns after saving five match points.

Let’s hope for another epic battle on Sunday.