Anna Leigh Waters/Ben Johns advanced to the mixed doubles final by the slimmest of margins, with a 7-11, 11-5, 12-10 victory over No. 7 seeds Tyra Black/Christian Alshon.

After teams split the first two games, Black/Alshon jumped out to a 6-1 lead in Game 3 that eventually turned into match point at 10-4.

The top seeds, though, would not be denied.

They scraped their way back into the game, relying on their quick hands to help them stay alive through multiple match points.

Four match point saves later, Waters/Johns tied things up at 10-10 and went on to close out the epic encounter a few moments later at the first time of asking.

One of the challenges for the victors was dealing with the length and defensive capabilities of their opponents.

“I think their defense together is something that gets you frustrated,” Waters mentioned. “You think you’ve won the point so many times, and then you just don’t.”

“It’s not just that the ball comes back—it’s that it often comes back pretty low to the net, so you can’t really do a lot with the next one,” Johns added. “It can be awkward to have to hit up on a ball you thought you were gonna be attacking.”

Even with how emotionally draining this match was, there is still work to be done for the pairing in Palm Springs. They will face Catherine Parenteau/Federico Staksrud in Sunday’s final.

Catherine Parenteau/Federico Staksrud became the second team to make the mixed doubles final at Mission Hills Country Club, as they earned a 13-11, 11-5 victory over No. 5 seeds Rachel Rohrabacher/James Ignatowich.

After Parenteau/Staksrud took a hard-fought opening game, Ignatowich was forced to take a medical timeout due to a back injury that he’s been managing throughout the week.

Even though he was able to return, it was obvious that he wasn’t at full strength in the second game. The No. 4 seeds took full advantage and comfortably took Game 2 to seal the victory.

Staksrud spoke about the challenges of playing against a player who isn’t at full strength.

“It’s kind of tricky because you don’t want to be focusing on that—you want to be focusing on your own game and executing, but it’s tough not to see when a player calls a medical timeout,” he explained. “Hopefully it’s nothing too serious because it’s great to have James out here. Hopefully, he can recover quickly.”

This is only their second tournament together, but Parenteau/Staksrud are quickly showing that they are a top mixed doubles pairing. They earned bronze in Kansas City back in August and have already guaranteed a silver medal to start off 2025.

“We’re both very steady, so I think we can get past a lot of teams even when we’re not playing our best,’ Parenteau said of the tandem’s success. “I feel like that’s kind of what we’ve doing all week. We haven’t played our best yet, so hopefully we’re keeping it for tomorrow.”

They will certainly need their best when they take on top seeds Anna Leigh Waters/Ben Johns on Championship Sunday.