As Carvana Championship Sunday at the Veolia Texas Open presented by Proton extended into the afternoon, the wind became a factor in the Lone Star State.

That certainly made for some unorthodox pickleball and memorable rallies, but in the end, it was Anna Leigh Waters, Anna Bright, Ben Johns, and Gabe Tardio who closed out the second half of the day with gold medals around their necks.

In women’s doubles, Waters/Bright defeated No. 4 seeds Parris Todd/Alix Truong 11-2, 11-6, 11-4 to remain undefeated together in 2026.

New Columbus Sliders teammates Todd/Truong were fresh off a thrilling semifinal victory over No. 9 seeds Mari Humberg/Milan Rane, but Waters/Bright stood tall as the wind began to pick up around Humana Championship Court.

“I feel like today in the wind it honestly came down to who was going to make the fewest unforced errors but still be aggressive at the same time,” Waters mentioned afterwards. “I feel like we were doing that today, kind of worrying more about ourselves than what was going on with Parris and Alix.”

The wind speeds only continued to rise as attention turned to the men’s doubles final, where Ben Johns/Gabe Tardio continued their flawless-thus-far 2026 campaign with an 11-0, 12-10, 11-7 victory over No. 4 seeds Andrei Daescu/Federico Staksrud.

Late in the second game, the wind began to significantly impact play and actually caused a ten-minute delay.

After all parties agreed to continue, however, the four competitors returned to the court as gusts passing 40 miles per hour became a frequent occurrence.

Johns gave a shoutout to the crowd for braving the weather and staying for the entire contest.

“Conditions-wise, this has to be the craziest final I’ve ever played. I feel like everyone deserves a round of applause for being here,” he said. “This probably looked like absolute chaos out there, and the points were maybe not what you expected, but thanks for sticking around, and thanks to all the players for still wanting to play.”

The wind only worsened from there, which resulted in a 40-minute wind delay before Waters returned to the court to face No. 2 seed Kate Fahey for the women’s singles crown.

Once the speeds fell below 30 miles an hour, Waters got to work on the final leg of her 42^nd career PPA Tour Triple Crown.

The 19-year-old succeeded with an 11-1, 11-6 victory in a contest whose result even Waters won’t take completely seriously.

“I think you take this match with a grain of salt,” she noted afterwards. “Obviously, I’m playing very well right now. I’m training hard, and I’m loving singles. It’s a grind, though. It’s just you out there, so sometimes it’s tough, but it’s fun. It’s a different side of the sport. I like to say that it’s like a different sport than doubles.”

The PPA Tour’s incredible athletes will have some much-needed time away from competition until the Greater Zion Cup at Black Desert Resort, which will run March 23-29 in Santa Clara, Utah.