Anna Leigh Waters Earns a Triple Crown at the PPA Atlanta Pickleball Championships - A Tournament Recap

The Veolia PPA Atlanta Pickleball Championships (Slam) turned out to be one of the best tournaments of the year. We had upsets galore in men’s singles, new partnerships on the women’s side, and Anna Leigh Waters won another triple crown.

The LifeTime Peach Tree Corners venue continues to showcase why it is a top tour stop in pickleball. The fans were electric throughout the entire week, bringing energy the entire time. 

Since 2,000 PPA points were on the line, all the top contenders on tour were in Atlanta, giving their all.

Let’s get into the action.

Top Storylines from the Veolia PPA Atlanta Pickleball Championships

Anna Leigh Waters won her 34th Triple Crown

Anna Leigh dominated the field in all three events in Atlanta. A quick look at the numbers, before we get into the stories:

• Women’s doubles record: 9-0, 99-28 point differential
• Women’s singles record: 10-1, 117-42 point differential, 1 pickle
• Mixed doubles record: 13-0, 143-41 point differential, 3 pickles 

Overall, Waters went 32-1 in games, with her only loss a game two loss in the singles final, the last event she played. She combined for a score of 359-111, for a 76% point win percentage, and more than tripled her opponents’ score. She also pickled her opponents four times.

The stories of how Anna Leigh won a triple crown

First and foremost, Anna Leigh and Ben did Anna Leigh and Ben things. They won every single match they played. In the Round of 16, they even double pickled Lindsey and Riley Newman in a 14-minute match.

In their fourth meeting ever on the PPA Tour, Waters and Johns made quick work of a top five mixed doubles team in Christian Alshon and Etta Tuionetoa in the finals. They won 11-3, 11-2, 11-7.

In women’s doubles, this was the first time for Waters to play with Anna Bright since the “breakups”. 

As expected, “The Annas” dominated the competition, not losing a game. They were the #2 seed in Atlanta, which will probably the last time they are not the #1 seed for the foreseeable future. Waters and Bright did benefit from a withdrawal in the Round of 16, from Layne Sleeth and Andrea Koop, due to a lingering injury. 

The closest any team got to winning a game was in the semis and finals, with both teams getting to seven points. Seven. That was the most points scored against Bright and Waters in any game.

The final was a bit of a letdown, especially against former partners, Rachel Rohrabacher and Catherine Parenteau. The Annas won 11-4, 11-7, 11-3, and it never felt like they were at risk of losing a game.

This duo is going to be the clear-cut favorite in every single tournament they play in for the remainder of 2025, and I would be shocked if they lost a single match during that same time frame.

Lastly, in singles, Anna Leigh proved that she is still the standard. She beat Jorja Johnson, Brooke Buckner, and Parris Todd in two games; and she pickled Jorja in one game.

In the finals, she finally lost a game to Kate Fahey, who she was 16-0 against, prior to Atlanta. In terms of games, Waters is now 18-1 against Fahey and has beat her in seven straight matches.

Waters earned her 151st gold medal, and 34th triple crown, on the PPA Tour, in her career. If her pace of winning gold medals keeps up with the pace it has been during the past year, we should be hearing about Waters winning her 200th gold on the PPA Tour around a year from now.

Ben Johns Gets two of three Gold Medals

This looked a like a 2023 vintage Ben Johns tournament. He was engaged, having fun, and most importantly, winning. 

Johns was on the cusp of winning a triple crown, which would have been the first time since April 2024.

In singles, Johns had to beat Christian Alshon, Hunter Johnson, and Connor Garnett. Talk about a gauntlet. 

Johns beat Alshon in the quarters, 14-12, 11-8. He then beat Johnson on Saturday in the semis, 7-11, 11-3, 11-8. In the finals on Sunday, Johns was down big and came back, beating Garnett 3-11, 11-9, 11-9. The roar he made while dropping to a knee at the end of the singles final showed just how much he wanted to win.

We already discussed the mixed doubles run with Anna Leigh Waters.

The only loss on the weekend for Ben was in the men’s doubles final with Gabe Tardio, against CJ Klinger and JW Johnson. Men’s doubles is so close, in terms of competition, in 2025. It feels like there are five or six teams that could win each weekend and no one would be surprised.

As the #2 seed, Johns and Tardio beat Matt Wright and Riley Newman, and Andrei Daescu and Christian Alshon, before running into the Klinger/Johnson buzz saw.

Johns’ level of intensity throughout the week was great for the game of pickleball. Although he fell just short in men’s doubles, it looks like Ben Johns is highly motivated on the PPA Tour this year.

CJ Klinger and JW Johnson get their first gold together

Klinger and Johnson earned two bronze medals thus far in 2025. In Atlanta, they put the rest of the field on notice that they are a team to be reckoned with. 

As the #5 seed, Klinger and Johnson had a tough road to the finals. In the quarters, they beat #1 seed, Hayden Patriquin and Federico Staksrud, 11-3, 6-11, 11-8. 

In the semis, the “ice, ice baby” team (nicknamed by Dave Fleming, due to their calm demeanor) beat the #4 seed, Dylan Frazier and Dekel Bar, 11-5, 11-13, 11-8.

In the finals, they put on a clinic against Gabe Tardio and Ben Johns. Although they won in three games, the match was super close. They won 11-9, 11-9, 11-7. 

The turning point in the match came in game two, when Klinger and Johnson were down 4-9, with Ben and Gabe serving. They earned a sideout, and then went on a 7-0 run, winning the game 11-9.

The Klinger/Johnson duo is one of the elite men’s doubles teams on the PPA Tour this year, and I expect them to continue to find the medal stand in upcoming tournaments.

Alex Crum made it all the way from Qualies to the Quarters and put himself in a pickle

Crum beat three qualifiers and then made a run to the quarterfinals in Atlanta. 

In the main draw, Crum had to play two matches on Tuesday, May 13. First, he faced off against 60 seed, Todd Fought, in the Round of 128. Crum was able to beat Fought 11-3, 11-2.

Later that day, he had to face #1 seed, Federico Staksrud, in the Round of 64. Crum upset the best player in the world, 11-9, 5-11, 11-6. 

Wednesday, he beat Mota Alhouni, the 27 seed, 11-1, 4-11, 11-7, in the Round of 32. Thursday, he beat 49 seed, Zane Navratil, 11-5, 4-11, 11-5, in the Round of 16. 

Friday is where his Cinderalla story came to an end, running into a red-hot Dylan Frazier, in the quarterfinals. Crum lost 10-12, 11-3, 3-11.

To learn more about Crum, check out our feature article on him:

The reason Crum did TOO WELL is that he will now be ranked in the top 50 in men’s singles on the PPA Tour. Why is that bad, you ask?

If a player is ranked in the top 50, they are no longer allowed to play qualifiers. And since Crum is currently not a signed PPA touring player, he has three options to continue his pickleball career:

• Sign a PPA exclusive contract
• Play PPA Challenger Series events
• Play on the APP Tour, or other professional tours

We will see what Crum decides to do in the next month or so. Make sure to subscribe to The Dink newsletter to ensure you are up to speed on everything pickleball.

Other Quick Storylines

Pablo Tellez got heated with a referee

In a singles match against eventual champion, Connor Garnett, Tellez lost his cool with a referee. 

Down 8-10 in game 2, Pablo was serving. The short version of this story is, Tellez got called for ball abuse and given a technical warning. After the warning, Tellez said, “Yeah, wake up and do your job right, and I won’t have to tell you sh*t.”

Because of the profanity, the referee gave Tellez a second technical warning, which resulted in a technical foul, and Garnett was awarded a point, ending the match, with Garnett winning.

As he was walking off the court, Tellez was heard saying, “You are unbelievably bad. So bad. Go do something else, seriously. Such bullsh*t. Such bullsh*t. Just because I tell you to wait for the serve, means you give me a technical. So bad. Seriously. So bad. Do better. Do better.”

The lights at the LifeTime Peach Tree Corners left something to be desired at night

On Saturday, play was delayed two hours due to rain in the morning. Play went well into the evening, and the semifinal match between Gabe Tardio/Ben Johns and Christian Alshon/Andrei Daescu. 

The shadows were very apparent, and the lack of lumens was even more apparent. I was surprised the PPA Tour didn’t suspend the match and begin it early Sunday. Having Ben Johns play in that match with his known eye issues in low light was even more surprising.

The LifeTime ball played well in its debut

This was the first time we have seen the LifeTime LT Ball, and there was a consensus from the pros that the ball played well.

In speaking with a few pros, I heard that the ball bounced a little higher than the Vulcan ball does, and the bounce is a little truer. It also plays 10-15% quicker than the Vulcan at the kitchen line.

The LT Ball is a little bit more difficult to shape than the Vulcan V-Pro Flight, was the only criticism I heard.

Since the next PPA Tour event is the Select Medical Orange County Cup, which is held at another LifeTime facility, I expect to see the ball used there as well.

Full Medal Results

Women’s Singles

🥇 Anna Leigh Waters

🥈 Kate Fahey

🥉 Parris Todd

Men’s Singles

🥇 Ben Johns

🥈 Connor Garnett

🥉 Hunter Johnson

Mixed Doubles

🥇 Anna Leigh Waters/Ben Johns

🥈 Etta Tuionetoa/Christian Alshon

🥉 Jorja & JW Johnson

Women’s Doubles

🥇 Anna Bright/Anna Leigh Waters

🥈 Rachel Rohrabacher/Catherine Parenteau

🥉 Parris Todd/Hurricane Tyra Black

Men’s Doubles

🥇 CJ Klinger/JW Johnson 

🥈 Gabe Tardio/Ben Johns

🥉 Christian Alshon/Andrei Daescu