
Waters overcomes slow start, battles past Jansen in tense affair
Anna Leigh Waters dispatched Lea Jansen 11-8, 11-6 to book her spot in the women’s singles final.
These two squared off on Sunday in the Cape Coral final, with Waters prevailing in two games.
While the end result was the same on Thursday, the top seed was certainly pushed.
Jansen came out on fire and earned a 5-1 lead in the opening game, as she used her reach and impressive lateral movement to win points at the kitchen line.
Even as Waters worked her way into that game, she and Jansen shared several memorable rallies that showcased the high quality of the contest from both sides.
There was a point of tension early in Game 2, however.
Jansen’s monitor for her type 1 diabetes went off during a rally that she won, which prompted Waters to call for a hindrance and for Jansen to put the device into her bag so that it wouldn’t be heard during a point again.
The referee agreed and deemed that the point should be replayed, much to the frustration of Jansen.
But the match continued without a hitch from there, and the top seed advanced to Championship Sunday.
Waters spoke of the challenges that Jansen presents as an opponent.
“Lea was definitely hitting the ball pretty hard and getting in” she said. “She’s super long, so it’s tough to pass her. I had to make sure that I was trying to take things early and take time away from her.”
In her quarterfinal match against Chao Yi (Zoey) Wang, Waters sustained an injury to her leg when she jumped over one of the barriers chasing down a ball.
She gave an update on the status of her leg.
“It’s definitely pretty swollen and bothering me a little bit, but when you get on court, adrenaline definitely kicks in, and if I was having any other aches and pains in my body, this was making up for it and honestly numbing it,” she mentioned.
Waters will face No. 4 seed Kate Fahey in the final.
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