Ben Johns on the court.
Ben Johns playing mixed doubles on Saturday. PPA Tour

Waters, Johns advance to mixed doubles final versus Irvine, Tardio

The stage is set for an entertaining mixed doubles final at the Rate Vegas Cup presented by Holland America.

Top seeds Anna Leigh Waters and Ben Johns will battle No. 5 seeds Jessie Irvine and Gabe Tardio on Championship Sunday at Darling Tennis Center.

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Waters and Johns clinched their spot in the gold-medal match with a 6-11, 11-5, 11-4 semifinal victory over No. 3 seeds Anna Bright and Hayden Patriquin on Saturday.

"I felt like they played really well the first game. Hayden applied a lot of pressure, hit some great shots, and was taking up a lot of court. I think the adjustments in games two and three, we went behind them a little more, Anna Leigh attacked a little bit, and I tried to take up more court as well and just try to apply a little more pressure instead of having the pressure put on us, which definitely got us some points," explained Johns. "AL just played phenomenal with counters, attacks, kind of everything, so games two and three went our way a lot because of that. It was a good match."


Waters and Johns own a remarkable 54-2 overall record in finals together, so Irvine and Tardio will certainly have their work cut out for them.

Nevertheless, Johns fully anticipates a challenge from their next opponents.

"It's really fun to see them in the final. That was a huge win from them. Obviously, I know what Gabe's capable of. He can hit a lot of insane shots and take up a lot of court, and Jessie's always steady," mentioned Johns. "You can definitely expect a bit of a grinding match, and I'm looking forward to it."

Irvine and Tardio, meanwhile, earned a notable 11-8, 6-11, 11-7 semifinal victory over No. 2 seeds Jorja Johnson and JW Johnson to continue their journey in Sin City.