Professional pickleball player Anna Leigh Waters hits a forehand alongside partner Anna Bright at the 2023 Takeya Showcase
Anna Leigh Waters hits a forehand alongside partner Anna Bright at the 2023 Takeya Showcase PPA Tour

Waters Splits From Parenteau and Partners with Anna Bright

On Monday, following the Veolia North Carolina Open, Catherine Parenteau posted a heartfelt post thanking Anna Leigh Waters for their time spent as partners, shocking the pickleball world. This was the first sign that the two pickleball legends and friends would no longer be taking the court together.


Waters will be partnering with Anna Bright for the remainder of the 2025 season. Their first tournament together is set to be the Veolia Atlanta Pickleball Championships on May 12-18, which is a Slam and conveys the maximum amount of points.

Waters and Parenteau have won five of the seven women's doubles events they've played together in 2025, with their two losses coming against Callie Smith/Etta Tuionetoa in the quarterfinals of the CIBC Texas Open and Jorja Johnson/Tyra Black in the finals of the Veolia North Carolina Open.

Last year, Waters and Parenteau only had a handful of losses, earning 15 gold medals together and 3 silvers, but all three of their losses came against Anna Bright and Rachel Rohrabacher. 

Here is a look back on some of the stats accumulated throughout the partnership between Waters and Parenteau:
  • 31 titles together, including 14 in 2024.  (31-4 record in finals)
  • They are 10-3 in finals vs Bright/Rohrabacher and 21-1 in finals against everyone else
  • 11-3 all-time vs Bright/Rohrabacher (includes 2024 Desert Ridge semifinal match)
  • 2025: Lost to C. Smith/Tuionetoa in the QF's at Texas Open and lost to Jorja Johnson and Tyra Black in the finals of the Veolia North Carolina Open
  • Lost to Jorja Johnson and Lacy Schneemann in pool play at the CIBC PPA Tour Finals in December 2024.
  • Waters won all 18 women's doubles tournaments that she entered in 2023; 11 with Parenteau and 7 with Bright.
  • Parenteau has 53 overall career gold medals: 9 in singles, 37 in doubles, and 7 in mixed.

Anna Bright takes a backhand alongside partner Anna Leigh Waters at the 2023 Takeya Showcase
Anna Bright takes a backhand alongside partner Anna Leigh Waters at the 2023 Takeya Showcase PPA Tour

Bright has played with Waters in the past, and the two earned seven titles as a partnership in 2023 before Waters ultimately decided to play exclusively with Parenteau for 2024 and throughout the first third of 2025.

Based on history, Bright and Waters will undoubtedly have serious chemistry and firepower together, and it's hard to imagine another women's doubles team taking those two down. However, history has taught us that partnerships take time to evolve and flourish, so it will be interesting to see how the two play when they take the court together in May. Stay tuned.

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