SAN CLEMENTE, CA - The pairings of Anna Leigh Waters and Ben Johns and Catherine Parenteau and Christian Alshon are into the mixed doubles gold medal match after securing victories Saturday afternoon.

Both teams won the first game of their respective matches 11-3, but they had different experiences from there.

Waters and Johns would drop Game 2 against No. 3 seeds Jorja Johnson and JW Johnson.

Things got worse for the No. 1 seeds in Game 3, as the Johnsons took control of the decider to the point of having a chance to close it out at 10-4.

But there’s a reason why their names aren’t in the title of this article.

Waters and Johns came all the way back to take it 12-10, saving five match points along the way.

Johns was quick to credit the steadiness of Waters as one of the reasons for the comeback.

“I can always trust that Anna Leigh is going to play really well, no matter what the score is,” he said. “I definitely didn’t play my best in Game 2, and she didn’t care and just continued to play really well.”

In the second semifinal, Parenteau and Alshon were able to close out No. 16 seeds Vivian Glozman and Hayden Patriquin in two games 11-3, 14-12.

The No. 7 seeds jumped out to a 7-2 lead in that second game, but Glozman and Patriquin would not go down quietly.

They executed a comeback reminiscent of Waters and Johns and even had a chance to send it to Game 3, but Parenteau and Alshon held their nerve to close it out.

“Hayden and Viv did a great job of coming back and really put the pressure on us,” Alshon said of the second game. “We just had to put the lead we had aside and try and play smart pickleball.”

These results set the stage for an intriguing gold medal match, where Alshon will have a chance to play for his first mixed doubles title.

These two teams played against each other at the Desert Ridge Open back in February, with Waters and Johns prevailing in three games.