At this stage in the picklesphere, everyone knows the name Anna Leigh Waters.

She’s the phenom who broke records as the youngest pro pickleball player and quickly shot up to the No. 1 ranking with no signs of relinquishing it anytime soon. 

Waters has been so good for so long, which begs the question: Why is she so dominant?

In a recent interview on the Talk Pickle to Me podcast, Anna Bright shared insight about the pro pickleball landscape with Waters at the top of the game. 

“I had a good tournament if my only losses were to Anna Leigh,” began Bright. “If you were to list 100 skills in pickleball, Anna Leigh would probably be the best at 80 of them. Her dominance is insane.”

If anyone can speak about Waters as a competitor, it’s Bright, who’s one of the main players to frequently challenge Waters in mixed doubles and women’s doubles. 

“Anna Leigh has a perfect training situation with her mom, Leigh, being a pro and being willing to do whatever she needs to make her better,” she said. “You really cannot underestimate the significance of a parent's dedication to a child becoming great at sports. If you have a parent that is familiar with the sport and willing to spend time like Leigh and Stephen are, you can’t underestimate that advantage.”

In addition to her ideal training situation, Waters' talents developed from being a pure pickleball athlete. 

“She is naturally so talented with unreal hand-eye coordination. She played soccer, so her footwork is unbelievable. She probably has the most power out of every woman. Her anticipation is the best. She has every shot, and she’s a hard worker,” praised Bright.

“She’s been seeing the game since she was 11 years old. I’m trying to build the neural network that she has, but I’m an adult, so it’s just different. And she still has a perfect training situation with Leigh and is probably able to practice with Christian Alshon a lot too. It’s just a perfect storm for her to be great,” added Bright.

Waters' skills aside, it's her determination and grit that often pushes her over the top on the 20x44.

“She’s a great competitor. She wills her way to victory. I can do that sometimes, but not to the extent she can. I’m not saying she’s a better competitor than me, but I’m saying she just has the ability to really take over a women’s match like no other woman really has. And we’ve seen her do that in mixed when Ben Johns isn’t playing his best and their backs are up against a wall. She makes things happen. It’s very impressive,” described Bright. “I’m not going to say it’s not annoying, but Anna Leigh is freaking good. She’s kind of a wonder child.”

Bright shared that she recently discussed this topic with some people who posed an interesting question: “Tennis players are going to come in and beat Anna Leigh, right?”

Bright doesn’t think so. 

“Honestly, no one is whooping Anna Leigh Waters. Some people may come in who can become as good. There may never be someone better, maybe there will be, but in women’s singles, it’s her best event. Every pro female has had a match against Anna Leigh when you honestly feel like you played well and you lose 2-0. Everyone has had this experience, and it is so humbling,” she admitted.

“So, when people say that tennis players are going to come in and beat Anna Leigh at singles, it’s a joke. I’ve had to coach Kate Fahey to play her and I said, ‘Girl, your best bet is to get on your knees and pray,’” added Bright with a laugh. “I think it’s like a Simone Biles situation. I don’t think people realize how special this girl is.”