The women’s doubles final from the CIBC Atlanta Slam was a very entertaining match. It was one of the best matches I have watched all year. The full power style employed by both teams was really fun to see. Anna Leigh Waters and Catherine Parenteau came into the match not just on a long winning streak; they came in on a long streak of never even losing a game. On the other side were the giant killers, Anna Bright and Rachel Rohrabacher, the only team to defeat Waters/Parenteau since . . . well, since forever.

 

While the play itself was fun to watch, there was a deeper story to this match. That deeper story was the strategy used by both sides. Waters and Parenteau had their usual coaches and opposing them was the person I have called the smartest woman in pickleball, Anna Bright. So what changes did the teams make from their normal style, if any? As is always true, the statistics tell the story.

 

 

Both teams normally play fairly straight up, not a ton of stacking. To the extent Waters and Parenteau stack, they are just as likely to put Parenteau on the left as they are on the right. Bright and Rohrabacher are similar, with many matches finding Bright playing a good bit of right side, if not a majority on the right. Of course, both Waters and Bright have top end backhands, so having their backhands up the middle may seem at first blush to be a good idea. But is it really? In crunch time, who do you want to have on the dominant left side?

 

This match was almost all crunch time. The two teams spent the first game trying to get settled. Bright and Rohrabacher came out firing from the get go, and after they won game one 11-3, it was interesting to see how the two teams would adjust. Waters and Parenteau knew after dropping game one that not only was their streak of winning every game gone, but their streak of winning matches was in jeopardy. Game two on was serious business.

 

The key statistic in this match concerned how many points each player played on the left and right side. As all four players are right-handed, the left side player was the dominant player. That was the player taking the middle, taking as many balls as possible, and trying to dictate the game.

 

 

 

Waters rallies played on the left/rallies won on the left: 7/17

Parenteau on the left: 7/19

Bright on the left: 15/24

Rohrabacher on the left: 7/12

 

These stats include together both service points and return of serve points.  Waters and Parenteau played fairly straight up in game one. Bright and Rohrabacher played a half stack; they stacked on serve but not return. Thus, Rorhabacher’s stats include only service return rallies where she is on the left, so we would expect her rally winning percentage to be higher than Bright’s as Bright’s include all of their service points. Game two had a big change.

 

 

Waters on the left: 20/46

Parenteau on the left: zero

Bright on the left: 20/39

Rohrabacher on the left: 4/5

 

Note: Due to a technical glitch, there were a couple of points that were not viewable.

 

As we can see from the stats, Waters and Parenteau responded to the first game loss by completely changing their strategy. They were down a game and it was time to put their best player on the left, full-time. Bright and Rohrabacher adjusted, although not completely, moving Bright mostly to the left.

 

 

Waters on the left: 25/47

Parenteau on the left: zero

Bright on the left: 22/45

Rohrabacher on the left: 0/2

 

 

Waters on the left: 12/33

Parenteau on the left: zero

Bright on the left: 20/31

Rohrabacher on the left: zero

 

The statistics tell a story and the story is very clear. Waters and Parenteau typically do not worry too much about stacking. Indeed, it is as common to see them stack with Waters on the right, as on the left. Not so when the chips are down. It is so rare to see Waters and Parenteau challenged that we do not have a lot of match history to go by. But, on this rare occasion, when they were challenged, Waters and Parenteau played correct strategy, putting their best player on the left.

 

 

For Bright and Rohrabacher, before their match, I tweeted that they needed to do two things to win; put Bright on the left and hit every possible shot they could at Parenteau. They did exactly that, on both counts. And it worked. As you can see from the statistics, Bright and Rohrabacher started out with a half stack. It was successful. They started out game two with the same half stack, but it they changed quickly, especially when they saw Waters on the left full time. That switch was exactly the correct adjustment to make. And it worked.

 

In game three, Bright and Rorhabacher again started out with a half stack and took an early 3-1 lead. But, after Waters and Parenteau tied it at 3-3, Bright and Rohrabacher switched to a full stack and stayed that way through the end of the match.

 

In addition to stacking, the other smart decision by Bright and Rohrabacher was to hit as many balls as they reasonably could to Parenteau. Waters is, obviously, the best player on the women’s side. But, despite this fact, many teams hit her a fair amount of balls. That is a poor strategy. Parenteau is also a very good player, but she is not on Waters’ level. Bright and Rohrabacher also constantly attacked Parenteau. Bright was attacking straight on, but notable was how often Rohrabacher attacked crosscourt. Attacking crosscourt is normally not a great strategy, but as Dave Fleming in his commentary on the match pointed out with great accuracy, correct strategy against Waters and Parenteau is to go full power at Parenteau. Attacking Parenteau has several benefits. First, it is easier to target a player with a hard shot than a soft shot; if you hit it soft, the left side player has an easier time poaching the return. Second, Waters is the best in the game in a firefight. A firefight between Parenteau and either Bright or Rohrabacher and the advantage switches to the Bright/Rohrabacher side. Both of them are better in a firefight than Parenteau. Again, to credit Dave Fleming, he said in the fourth game that the correct strategy was to pound it at Parenteau. Third, going fast plays to Rohrabacher’s strengths and hides her weaknesses. Rohrabacher’s backhand is better than her forehand. In a firefight, she can hit mostly backhands and she has an excellent backhand. Firefights also avoid Rohrabacher’s weakness, which is her forehand dink. Fleming got that one right too; at 7-3-2 in game 4, Rohrabacher had to hit a rare (for this match) simple forehand dink and hit it down the line wide. Fleming immediately said “no reason to do that” because the correct shot was a speedup crosscourt. Finally, Rohrabacher tends to hit hard forehands with a long stroke, not getting on top of the ball as much as she should. Thus, when she hits hard down the line, she tends to hit it long. But, when she attacks crosscourt, she has more room to work with and her forehand is more effective.

 

 

The fact is that Waters and Parenteau are rarely challenged in a match. Not only do they not lose a match, and not lose games, the opponents rarely even score five or more points in a game. Because of their dominance, Waters and Parenteau typically do not play best strategy, which is to put Waters on the left full time. In this match, it was different and they tried best strategy but still lost. What will they do the next time they meet Bright and Rohrabacher? Look for several things to change. First, Waters/Parenteau need to go Waters on the left full time, from the get go. Putting the weaker player on the left is just bad strategy. Second, Parenteau needs to improve on her counters. Like Collin Johns, Parenteau is a great defensive player, but one who more often resets instead of countering. Finally, Parenteau needs to initiate more offense. Again, just like we saw with Johns in the Atlanta men’s doubles final, offense is becoming the way to play pro pickleball today. Parenteau needs to copy Johns and initiate more offense, rather than sitting back and waiting for the other side to speed it up.

 

It was a great pickleball match. It was very entertaining and well played. But the underlying strategy was really the story. I can’t wait to see them play each other again, to see if the right adjustments are made.

 

Follow me on Twitter/X @pickleball_jim.