Pickleball’s continued growth in the United States has helped elevate professional tournaments into major spectator events, with sold-out crowds and high-intensity contests becoming increasingly common across the PPA Tour. As the sport’s profile rises, top players are facing deeper competition and tighter matches at every stage of major events.
That trend continued in San Clemente on Saturday when top seeds Anna Leigh Waters and Ben Johns survived a dramatic semifinal challenge to book their place in the mixed doubles final on Championship Sunday.
Waters and Johns defeated Anna Bright and Hayden Patriquin 11-0, 7-11, 11-8 in a match that swung sharply after a dominant opening game from the top seeds.
The contest initially appeared one-sided as Waters and Johns completed an 11-0 “pickle” in the opening game in just 10 minutes. Bright and Patriquin struggled to settle early, with errors allowing the top seeds to control rallies comfortably from the kitchen line.
However, momentum shifted completely in the second game.
Bright and Patriquin responded aggressively, raising the tempo and forcing Waters and Johns into longer exchanges. The younger pairing capitalized on several unforced errors to take the second game 11-7 and level the semifinal.
The deciding game produced the closest stretch of the match. Bright and Patriquin built an 8-4 lead and moved within touching distance of a major upset before Waters and Johns responded under pressure.
The experienced duo won the final seven points of the contest to close out the match and secure a place in Sunday’s final.
Ben Johns later admitted his own mistakes contributed to the momentum shift during the middle stages of the contest.
“At the end of Game 2, I made like four unforced errors,” Johns told Pickleballtv. “In Game 3, I was just telling myself, ‘Don’t go out by unforced errors.’”
Johns said the pair focused on simply keeping the ball in play before increasing pressure during key exchanges late in the match.
Waters and Johns will now face Rachel Rohrabacher and Christian Alshon in Sunday’s gold medal match after previously beating them during pool play earlier in the tournament.
The semifinal once again highlighted the increasing depth in professional pickleball, where even established top seeds are regularly being pushed deep into matches by younger and emerging players. With crowds continuing to grow and competition tightening across divisions, the sport’s rapid rise shows little sign of slowing down.
