Anna Leigh Waters and Ben Johns with the trophy after their mixed doubles title.
Anna Leigh Waters and Ben Johns with the trophy after their mixed doubles title. PPA Tour

Waters, Johns overcome windy conditions to sweep Johnsons for mixed title

Anna Leigh Waters/Ben Johns started Carvana Championship Sunday with an 11-7, 11-4, 11-7 victory over No. 2 seeds Jorja Johnson/JW Johnson to capture the mixed doubles title in North Texas.

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All four players had to deal with the cold and windy conditions at Brookhaven Country Club, but the top seeds were still able to find a high level to triumph without dropping a game.

“The conditions were pretty tough,” Johns said afterwards. “The ball is cold, so it flies and doesn’t spin a lot. I felt like in Game 1, we went with a lot of drives to get some free errors, especially when we were all kind of getting into the rhythm of the wind and all that. And then in Games 2 and 3, I felt like it was more about getting to the line consistently. Just getting to the line more often than them was the biggest thing because I felt like once we got up to the line, we might have been a slight favorite up there.”

Waters played especially well on the right side and found success multiple times going back behind JW with her attacks up the line.

The 18-year-old spoke about how special it is to take home a gold medal on the world stage.

“Coming into Worlds with 3000 points on the line, I really wanted to do well in all three divisions, but especially in mixed because I know the Johnsons are in almost every final with us,” she mentioned. “I knew they were going to be a tough battle, especially in these crazy conditions, so I’m really glad that we could stay focused today.”

Both Waters and Johns will be looking for more hardware later on Sunday.

Waters will go for a Triple Crown when she plays in the women’s doubles final alongside Anna Bright and the women’s singles final, while Johns will join forces with Gabe Tardio in the men’s doubles bronze medal match.