BRISTOL, TN - Anna Leigh Waters and Catherine Parenteau defeated No. 14 seeds Judit Castillo and Ewa Radzikowska 11-5, 11-2 to book their spots in the women’s doubles final.

The top seeds ran through the draw, not giving up more than five points in any game on their way to the gold medal match.

Castillo and Radzikowska, to their credit, had a breakout run in Bristol, highlighted by victories over the tandems of Lacy Schneemann and Jade Kawamoto—who earned silver last week in Kansas City—and Simone Jardim and Allyce Jones.

One of the off-court dynamics of the match was that three of the four players were originally from countries outside of the United States; Castillo is from Spain, Radzikowska is from Poland, and Parenteau hails from Canada.

That growing international presence serves as evidence of the sport’s global growth.

“It means so much,” Parenteau said of pickleball’s international representation. “I was watching the Olympics over the past few weeks, and I was wishing I was in it for pickleball. You see players coming from all sorts of countries, and it’s super exciting for the game.”

In July, the United Pickleball Association (UPA) unveiled plans for the UPA International Championship Series, which is set to begin in 2025 with events in Australia, India, Canada, Asia, Europe, and the U.S.

Until then, though, Waters and Parenteau will focus on the task at hand in Tennessee.

They will face the winners of the second semifinal pitting No. 2 seeds Anna Bright and Rachel Rohrabacher against No. 7 seeds Jorja Johnson and Vivian Glozman.