Anna Leigh Waters competing at the Las Vegas Pickleball Cup.
Anna Leigh Waters can earn her 40th PPA singles title with a win on Sunday. PPA Tour

Waters, Fahey set finals clash with two-game victories

Anna Leigh Waters booked her spot in the women’s singles final with an 11-5, 11-7 victory over No. 6 seed Salome Devidze.

This win means just a little more for the 17-year-old because she lost to Devidze the last time they played in the semifinals of the CIBC Texas Open.

Waters was determined to avenge that result, which stands as her only singles loss of the year.

She did just that in Saturday’s first match by making Devidze move at every moment possible.

“I was looking to move her around the court as much as I could,” she explained. “She’s got great passing shots and hits the ball really hard, but it’s tough to hit the ball super hard when you’re moving around the court. So that was kind of my plan, to move her more than she was moving me because last time I played her, she definitely moved me.”

It looked like Devidze had a chance to potentially send the match to Game 3 when she earned a 7-5 lead in the second, but Waters found a spark and scored the final six points of the contest to seal the triumph.

The top seed will go for her 40th career PPA singles title on Sunday.


In the second semifinal, Kate Fahey continued her strong form with an 11-6, 11-9 victory over No. 13 seed Lacy Schneemann.

The No. 17 seed—who has taken down three top-ten seeds in Las Vegas—was consistently able to find offense from the baseline and powered her way to the win.

Schneemann nearly pulled off an impressive comeback after being down 4-10 in the second game, but a missed serve at 9-10 gave Fahey the opportunity she needed to close out the match.

 

Fahey is now into her third final in four tournaments, evidence of her meteoric rise in women’s singles.

“It means so much to me,” she said of her recent success. “I’m really proud of myself and my play and just trying to stay positive through it all.”

The former product manager at American Express is excited for the challenge of facing Waters in the final.

“It’s an incredible opportunity,” she mentioned. “I’m really excited because I’ve never played her before. I’m confident in my game and looking forward to a good match.”