Anna Leigh Waters kicked off Semifinal Saturday action with a thrilling 9-11, 11-2, 11-6 victory over No. 3 seed Kaitlyn Christian, but the epic contest wasn’t without its controversies and tense moments.

As Waters attempted to cut into an early Christian lead in the opening game, she was given a technical warning for delay of game for walking over to her bench without explicitly calling for a timeout.

That technical warning came back to haunt the top see later in Game 1.

Trailing 9-1, Waters made an out call that was then overturned by a Christian challenge. Because Waters did not have any timeouts or challenges when she made the incorrect call and had been charged with a technical warning earlier in the game, she was assessed a technical foul that resulted in a point penalty.

Because the infraction occurred with Christian having ten points, the foul resulted in her winning Game 1, 11-9.

Waters was extremely frustrated with the call and spent the break between Games 1 and 2 trying to plead with the referees that she had actually called a timeout when she was initially penalized.

She clarified her cause at the Pickleballtv desk after the match.

“The refs have a tough job. They’re obviously concentrating on a lot, but there are two refs on court there, and I feel like they’ve got to hear that. Everyone on the sidelines heard it, so I’m pretty upset about that call,” she told Pickleballtv’s Kamryn Blackwood and Matt Manasse. “They didn’t clarify that I had a technical, which is big because when you’re making calls on court, you’re trying to do your best to make the best call, but if you know you have a technical warning, you’re going to play everything. Even close ones you think are out, you’re probably going to play. So, it was just a really tough call. I felt like they kind of stole that game from me. I’m not saying that Kaitlyn wasn’t going to win it. We don’t know. There was like 50/50 shot she was going to win it, but I was just so mad.”

Despite her frustration from the first game, Waters was able to reset and find her best stuff in the second and third games to complete the comeback and keep her Triple Crown hopes alive.

The World No. 1 spoke about what it took to overcome an inspired performance from Christian.

“I think I honestly should have been driving a little bit more because I felt like I was winning a lot of those points because my drops weren’t dipping today for some reason,” she explained. “They weren’t my best, and Kaitlyn was hitting some amazing volleys, so at the end I was trying to really be aggressive and put some pressure on her with my thirds. I was definitely wanting to come in and not have to pass her.”

Waters will face No. 2 seed Kate Fahey in Sunday’s gold medal match.