In the mixed doubles final of the 2024 Austin Open, Anna Bright/Andrei Daescu stunned top seeds Anna Leigh Waters/Ben Johns 11-3, 11-9, 11-3.

That was the first loss of the year for Waters/Johns, and it would remain the only blemish on their otherwise-perfect 2024 campaign.

Nearly a year and a half later, the most dominant mixed doubles partnership of all-time got their revenge in Cincinnati.

Waters/Johns claimed the mixed doubles title with an 11-2, 11-8, 11-9 victory over Bright/Daescu to kick off Carvana Championship Sunday action at Lindner Family Tennis Center.

Even though a lot of time has passed and many matches have been played since that memorable meeting in the Texas capital, Waters revealed after the win that revenge was on her mind coming into Sunday.

“I told Ben that the match against Anna and Andrei in Austin has haunted me since that final, and I really wanted some revenge, so I’m glad we got this one,” she said.

One of the keys for the top seeds was Waters’ tendency to run around her forehand on the right side to hit her two-handed backhand.

Johns gave some insight into how that made a difference on Sunday.

“Creating offensive opportunities is the big thing, whether it’s actually speeding up the ball and keeping Andrei on his side—Anna Leigh had a lot of success going up his line—or running around the forehand and creating angles with the backhand,” he explained to Pickleballtv’s Kamryn Blackwood and Matt Manasse. “That can be rolling it behind or attacking through the middle. All of those things just create a lot of offensive opportunities for us.”

On the other side, Bright says that there are a lot of positives to take away from this week competing alongside her former Major League Pickleball teammate in Daescu.

“Definitely super proud of our fight this week. We kind of got hit in the face here in Game 1, and even though we didn’t get Games 2 or 3, I’m proud of how we made them work for it. They’re obviously an amazing team, and we have a lot of positives for us this week. I’m happy to string together a good performance at a Slam. I wish today went differently, but that’s sports.”

No. 2 seeds Jorja Johnson/JW Johnson will face No. 7 seeds Jessie Irvine/Gabe Tardio in the bronze medal match later Sunday afternoon.