Anna Leigh Waters competing at the Select Medical Orange County Cup presented by Reign Storm.
Anna Leigh Waters competing at the Select Medical Orange County Cup presented by Reign Storm. PPA Tour

Waters, Parenteau set to clash in singles for first time since split

Anna Leigh Waters and Catherine Parenteau will face off for women’s singles gold in San Clemente in their first singles match since ending their women’s doubles partnership earlier this year.

Both players advanced to Championship Sunday with straight-game victories in the semifinals.

Waters kicked off Saturday’s action with an 11-7, 11-9 victory over No. 10 seed Judit Castillo, who was playing in her first PPA tournament since signing with the tour in May.

The top seed, who hasn’t lost a singles match in over a year, had to overcome sizeable deficits in both games; she trailed 4-7 in the opening game and 6-9 in the second, but was still able to close out the contest without going to a third.

Waters spoke after the match about the general adjustments she tries to make when she’s trailing.

“I feel like sometimes if the score’s even or if I’m up, I can get too creative or go for too much,” she explained. “When I’m down, I feel like I do a really good job of just sticking to the gameplan and sticking to the shots I know I can make. That sounds weird because you’d think you would play the same throughout the whole match, but I definitely play more high percentage when I’m down.”

In the second semifinal, Catherine Parenteau defeated No. 5 seed Brooke Buckner 11-6, 12-10.

The No. 7 seed looked to be in full control when she got up 6-0 in the second game, but Buckner fought all the way back and even had a game point at 10-9 before Parenteau eventually triumphed to make her first singles final since this event in 2024.

 

“I definitely got a little tight at the end there,” she admitted. “I think I was up 6-0, but then Brooke just went for it. She was hitting very deep shots, and her groundstrokes are amazing. She was putting a lot of pressure on me, but I just had to stay confident, trust myself to go for it, and be aggressive.”

Parenteau also spoke about the prospect of playing against her former partner, with whom she has won 31 women's doubles titles on the PPA Tour.

“Anna Leigh is number one for a reason," she said. "She’s really dominant right now in singles, so I’m really looking forward to playing against her. I think it’s going to be a fun battle.”

The two could also potentially face for women’s doubles gold if they both win their semifinal matches on Saturday. Waters and Anna Bright will face Mari Humberg/Meghan Dizon, while Parenteau and Rachel Rohrabacher will take on Tyra Black/Parris Todd.