When I first heard the news about the split between Anna Leigh Waters and Catherine Parenteau, something about it just stung. It all seemed so sudden, so out of the blue and completely unprompted. 

It made me wonder if there were other conversations going on behind closed doors between this seemingly perfect partnership. What went wrong? Everything seemed so good. Their record was 159-6 - that’s 96.36% of matches won. That’s remarkable.

I thought what they had was special. And successful. 

It was even worse when Parenteau went on The Hannah Johns Podcast.

The Canadian star shared an ominous goodbye post to Waters, which quickly started the speculation. Only a day later, the breakup was confirmed, and Parenteau explained her side of the story.  

During the whole interview, it was clear that Parenteau was just feeling down.

Her bubbly and easy-going personality was absent. 

“Honestly, it was a little bit shocking. It’s not something I was aware of,” she said.

And while Parenteau kept it classy and wished Waters the best, the whole situation felt so reflective of a terrible split. We’ve all been there, right? And while Waters and Parenteau are good friends and former women’s dubs partners, breakups can be hard no matter the circumstance. Just because it’s doubles partners going their separate ways doesn’t make it hurt any less. 

What’s worse is Parenteau gets to witness Waters “move on” with someone new. Ironically, someone younger who also shares the same name. Anna Bright.

Tell me you don’t see the comparisons. This is like the third act breakup from our favorite early 2000s romcom. 

And we can’t leave out Rachel Rohrabacher – Bright’s former partner, with whom she also shared a strong friendship on and off the court. “The Girlies” were the first duo to upset Waters and Parenteau, and I’m still mourning the loss of this rivalry. 

We have less information on Rohrabacher’s perspective of things, but it all appears civil and kind.

“I will always look back on our time together with nothing but gratitude and love,” said Rohrabacher via Instagram.

Rohrabacher has shared that she’s spending more time with other pro players, including Parris Todd, Hunter and Yates Johnson, and Roscoe Bellamy. At least she appears to be putting herself out there to find new partnerships. 

But thankfully, both Parenteau and Rohrabacher have strong life partners off the court to help support them during this difficult time. Parenteau has her wife, Athena Trouillot, and Rohrabacher has her fiancée, Bobby Edwards.

Fortunately, all the women are keeping it extremely classy. There’s no bad mouthing, no ill will, and no dramatic Instagram lives that lead to notes app apologies. While that would be entertaining, it would also be tough to watch. And it’s better for everyone if they focus on moving on.

But I still hate to see their goodbye posts. They’re just so sad. The friendship and support is so real from everyone involved. 

As Parenteau said: “It’s going to be interesting, different, you know, mixed feelings. It’s going to be different at first, but I’m sure we’re going to get used to it.” 

But with MLP Orlando on the horizon, the entire pickleball world will be paying close attention to see if there’s any sneaky shots when the former partners hit the court against each other.