Rain and wind caused issues for the majority of the weekend, and especially on Championship Sunday, but the PPA Tour was able to finish the Fasenra Virginia Beach Cup, albeit on Monday. Nothing was stopping Anna Leigh Waters from winning her 36th triple crown and 162nd gold medal on the PPA Tour this weekend.
Storms caused multiple delays throughout the day Sunday, but the mixed doubles, men’s singles, and women’s doubles events were played to completion. The men’s doubles competition was stopped short due to more rain on Sunday.
That match was quickly concluded on Monday, with Anna Leigh Waters and Brooke Buckner finishing up the tournament on Monday morning in women’s singles.
Of note, all bronze matches were canceled for the PPA Virginia Cup. Let's get into the top storylines.
Anna Leigh Waters Wins Her 36th Triple Crown in Dominating Fashion
It was a weekend of domination for Waters, which eventually even spilled over to Monday. How dominant was Anna Leigh? In total, she played 34 games in 16 matches, not losing a single game, let alone a match. She beat her opponents a combined 375-123, which is an average of 11-3.62.
Mixed Doubles
Ben Johns and Anna Leigh Waters have now won six consecutive mixed doubles titles, dating all the way back to May. Together, they have won 10 of 12 mixed doubles titles in 2025.
The two best players of all time played lights out in Virginia Beach, only allowing their opponents to reach 7 points twice. Their opponents averaged under four points per game. And they played quality opponents.
Layne Sleeth and James Ignatowich earned five points. Riley Newman and Catherine Parenteau earned seven points. Tina Pisnik and Andrei Daescu earned 11 points. Jorja and JW Johnson earned a combined 16 points in three games in the finals.
Ben and Anna Leigh are the standard-bearers in mixed doubles, with everyone else chasing them.
Women’s Singles
In singles, Anna Leigh won by an average scoreline of 11-5. She had to take out Catherine Parenteau, Parris Todd, and then Brooke Buckner in the finals on Monday to earn the title.
Waters even earned a pickle, beating her second round opponent 11-0 in game one.
Due to weather conditions, the finals against Brooke Buckner was forced to Monday, as Sunday evening rain didn’t allow the entire Championship Sunday to be played.
Buckner caused the most problems on the weekend for Waters, especially in game one. Waters was ahead, but Brooke’s tenacity came through, and she came back with a vengeance. However, Waters was able to take game one, 12-10. It was more of the same in game two, with Waters winning 11-6.
Women’s Doubles
What a juxtaposition Anna Bright and Anna Leigh Waters have found themselves in during the last month or so.
They had won three tournaments in a row, following the falling out of Waters and Parenteau and Bright and Rohrabacher. Pundits were asking themselves - will Bright and Waters EVER be beat?
And then in late August in Vegas, they lost to Hurricane Tyra Black and Jorja Johnson in the semis, earning bronze. Two weeks later, they lost in the semis again to the Kawamoto twins, earning bronze once again. The doubts creeped in among pundits and fans about “The Annas” continuing forward together. The players definitely felt the pressure - check out Anna Bright’s recap of how they won this weekend, exclusively for The Dink Pickleball:
Anna Bright
In what was obviously a pressure packed tournament for Anna Bright and Anna Leigh, they delivered a dominating performance. In fact, it was so dominating, they averaged a scoreline of 11-2 throughout the 11 games they played together. They double pickled their first opponent, and the most points they gave up in a single game was five.
In the semis, they faced off against Parenteau and Jade Kawamoto, one of the best women’s duos in Major League Pickleball for the LA Mad Drops, having gone 18-7 in the regular season in 2025. The Annas beat them 11-1, 11-3.
In the finals, Bright and Waters looked unstoppable, beating Jorja Johnson and Rachel Rohrabacher, 11-3, 11-1, 11-3.
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Ben Johns and Gabe Tardio Win Five in a Row
The Virginia Beach Cup marks the fifth tournament in row that Johns and Tardio won (in which they played).
The last time Tardio and Johns lost? It was May 18th, at the PPA Veolia Atlanta Open, 9-11, 9-11, 7-11, to CJ Klinger and JW Johnson. Who did they play in the finals this time around? You guessed it - CJ Klinger and JW Johnson.
The final match had multiple lengthy stoppages due to rain, and had to be paused overnight to be finished Monday morning. Tardio and Johns started hot, winning 11-3, and then 12-10. At 5-6-2 in the third game, play was halted for the night.
On Monday morning, Ben and Gabe rattled off six straight points starting at 5-6-2, and won the title in what seemed like seven minutes.
Since their loss to Klinger and Johnson in May, Tardio and Johns have won 25 matches in a row, and have only lost four games total in that same span. They are by far the most dominant men’s doubles duo in pickleball right now, with the others chasing them.
Chris Haworth Won His First Tournament as a PPA Signed Pro
Everyone knows Chris Haworth is great at singles. The question for the last year or so has been, “how does he compare to the top PPA players?” because he was not signed exclusively with the PPA.
Having signed with the UPA in August, Haworth has had a tough go recently, because he had some very poor seeding. That changed in Virginia Beach this weekend.
In late August, at the Vegas Strip Open, Haworth was the 52 seed, and lost to Hunter Johnson, 4 and 7. He was then the #57 seed in the Cincinnati Cup, losing to Connor Garnett in the semis, and once again losing to Hunter Johnson in the bronze medal match.
In the Sacramento Vintage Open, Haworth earned the #13 seed, and once again lost in the semis, this time to Gabe Joseph. He was, however, able to avenge his earlier loss to Garnett, winning bronze.
In Virginia Beach, Haworth was the #15 seed, and had to get through Jay Devilliers, Federico Staksrud, John Lucian Goins, and Jack Sock, to make his way to Championship Sunday.
He faced off against Christian Alshon on Sunday and the two displayed very similar styles of play, with Haworth edging Alshon, 11-8, 12-10 in a highly contested match.
The 1,500 PPA Points that Haworth earned in Virginia Beach should propel him into the top 10, and will help him have better draws moving forward. Can Haworth earn the #1 overall seed by the end of the year? Only time will tell.
The PPA Tour is back in action in a week, at the Rate Vegas Cup Presented by Holland America, starting October 20th.
Feature image credit to the PPA Tour and JOOLA Pickleball
Full Results
NOTE: The PPA Tour has not responded to my requests asking if the third and fourth place finishers will both earn bronze or neither earn bronze. This article will be updated once that question is answered.
Women’s Singles
🥇 Anna Leigh Waters
🥈 Brooke Buckner
🥉 Kaitlyn Christian & Parris Todd
Men’s Singles
🥇 Chris Haworth
🥈 Christian Alshon
🥉 Jaume Martinez Vich & Jack Sock
Mixed Doubles
🥇 Anna Leigh Waters/Ben Johns
🥈 Jorja Johnson/JW Johnson
🥉 Parris Todd/Christian Alshon & Tina Pisnik/Andrei Daescu
Women’s Doubles
🥇 Anna Bright/Anna Leigh Waters
🥈 Jorja Johnson/Rachel Rohrabacher
🥉 Jade Kawamoto/Catherine Parenteau & Parris Todd/Hurricane Tyra Black
Men’s Doubles
🥇 Gabe Tardio/Ben Johns
🥈 CJ Klinger/JW Johnson
🥉 Christian Alshon/Andrei Daescu & Jay Devilliers/Matt Wright
