Latest news with #LeighWaters
Forbes
06-05-2025
- Sport
- Forbes
Fudge And Munro Win Double Golds At 2025 US Pickleball Open
NAPLES, FLORIDA - MAY 03: Anna Leigh Waters and Leigh Waters pose for a photo with their gold medals ... More after defeating Megan Fudge and Jillian Braverman during the 2025 US Open Pickleball Championships Pro Womens Doubles gold medal match at the East Naples Community Park on May 3, 2025 in Naples, Florida. (Photo by) Getty Images Tucked in between the excitement of MLP's two opening events was an event that used to be a lot bigger deal to those who follow pro pickleball, the 2025 Minto US Open Championships, powered by Margaritaville. While the US Open remains the premier annual tournament for both Amateurs and Senior Pros, the exclusivity contracts barring UPA-signed players from competing in this event for the third year running has taken its toll on the quality of the pro draws. In the first year without PPA players in 2023, there remained enough quality 'APP players' at the time to ensure solid podiums. 2024 enabled a few top players who were in the midst of contract disputes to compete and allow the likes of JW Johnson, Dylan Frazier, and Jorja Johnson to take home medals. However, in the 2025 iteration only a UPA contract carve-out enabling Anna Leigh Waters to compete prevents the pro draws from resembling an APP major. One by one, the UPA has signed away/locked up nearly every pro medalist in the last three seasons, leaving this event as a pro afterthought. While the event benefitted from the fun ALW-Agassi storyline, the rest of the pro draws seemed to pale in comparison to the excitement we had at a run-of-the-mill MLP event a thousand miles away. Click here for the home page for the tournament, the software platform owned by the new US Open tour operators and which was used to coordinate signups and matches. As far as I can tell, Pickleball Den does not maintain a permanent/persistent link directly to the tournament, and I found the software quite challenging to use as someone attempting to cover the event. If you'd like to view matches, you'll have to search for the tournament then navigate a slew of pop-up boxes in a user experience that is truly lacking. Anytime the back arrow is hit, you're dropped back to the search bar instead of back to, say, a list of brackets or a tournament home page. With that said, let's recap the action. No. 1 seed Christopher Haworth cruised to the gold medal, beating No. 2 seed Grayson Goldin in the final and rehashing their frequent APP gold medal matches from the past half season or so. Ammar Wazir surprised the field to claim bronze. Other Notable results included a very early loss for No. 3 Ryler DeHeart to Nejc Sitar and defending champ No. 6 Jack Foster withdrawing early. Gold: Christopher Haworth. Silver: Grayson Goldin. Bronze: Ammar Wazir. Women's Pro Singles Recap No. 1 Megan Fudge improved on her 2024 2nd place finish by claiming Gold in Naples. She topped four-time US Open singles champion Simone Jardim in the semis, then Bobbi Oshiro in the final. Rising star Sofia Sewing was upset in the 16s by Emilia Schmidt, teenage sensation Alexa Schull fell to the Agassi-scalping Trang Huynh-McClain in the 32s, and the defending APP pro champ Pei chuan Kao was felled by Oshiro early on her way to the finals. Gold: Megan Fudge. Silver: Bobbi Oshiro. Bronze: Amanda Hendry. Mixed Pro Doubles Recap The APP's top Mixed pair Megan Fudge & Jack Munro had an adventurous run to the gold medal at the US Open. In the round of 16 they downed the US Open legend Simone Jardim, playing with her brother Marcello (who was looking to win more gold after his double senior golds earned later in the week). In the quarters, Megan had to play her husband Ryler DeHeart and downed him and partner Pei chuan Kao 0,3. In the semis they topped two of the better up-and-coming players in the sport in Sofia Sewing & Casey Diamond. In the final they topped another couple of APP-Nextgen graduates in Richard Livornese & Riley Bohnert, who had gone on a solid run of their own from the bottom half of the draw. Fudge goes home with a double gold for the weekend. The Mixed draw here was overshadowed by the debut of Andre Agassi, which we covered last week. Agassi & Waters fell in the 16s. Gold: Fudge/Munro. Silver: Livornese/Bohnert. Bronze: Sewing/Diamond. Men's Pro Doubles Recap NAPLES, FLORIDA - MAY 03: Jack Munro hits a forehand serve (with Partner Len Yang) against Ryler ... More DeHeart and Richard Livornese during the 2025 US Open Pickleball Championships Pro Mens Doubles gold medal match at the East Naples Community Park on May 3, 2025 in Naples, Florida. (Photo by) Getty Images APP No. 1 Jack Munro was without his normal partner Will Howells (on MLP duty in Columbus), and teamed with the little-known Len Yang for the event. They powered to the final regardless, where they met No. 2 Ryler DeHeart & Richard Livornese. In the final, Munro was the best player on the court and led his team to gold. The win gave Munro a double for the weekend. Notable finishes: the bronze medalists were none other than the top Indian pair Armaan Bhatia & Harsh Mehta, who toppled APP veterans and No. 3 seeds Brandon Lane & Ben Newell in the 3rd place match. This is a notable result; Bhatia has some significant accomplishments in the burgeoning world of pro pickleball in Asia and Australia, but this is his first major foray into the US-based competitions. The pair's run to the semis (where they lost a 12-10 game three to Munro & Yang) should be a warning shot for the globalization of the pro game. Gold: Munro/Yang. Silver: Livornese/DeHeart. Bronze: Bhatia/Mehta. Women's Pro Doubles Recap NAPLES, FLORIDA - MAY 03: Megan Fudge hits a backhand drive shot during the 2025 US Open Pickleball ... More Championships at the East Naples Community Park on May 3, 2025 in Naples, Florida. (Photo by) Getty Images Anna Leigh Waters may not have had the mixed pro success she had last year (where she teamed with JW Johnson to take US Open gold), but she was able to repeat last year's success by repeating as US Open Women's Pro doubles champions with her mom, Leigh Waters. The two won a slew of pro medals during the early parts of the PPA tour before Leigh was forced to the sidelines with an ACL injury. However, mother-daughter pairing occasionally rekindles their partnership, and this weekend they defended their 2023 US Open title. They dominated a top APP pair Megan Fudge & Jill Braverman in the final 0,4. Gold: Waters/Waters. Silver: Fudge/Braverman. Bronze: Bates/Sewing. Split Age Pro Competition Recaps The U.S. Open features a fun Pro competition called 'Split Age,' where doubles teams are comprised of one 50+ player and one under-50 player. These draws are held earlier in the week before the main pro draws get started, serving as nice warm-up events for the top touring pros. Here's a quick review of those competitions. Men's Split Age Pro Doubles Recap: When you pair arguably the best senior pro out there (Jamie Oncins, currently No. 1 in APP Men's Champions doubles) with one of the best 'young' pros (Jack Munro, currently ranked No. 2 in APP Men's Doubles), you're going to get a team that's tough to beat. This pair cruised to the gold medal, topping Kyle Yates & Dave Weinbach in the final. When you pair arguably the best senior pro out there (Jamie Oncins, currently No. 1 in APP Men's Champions doubles) with one of the best 'young' pros (Jack Munro, currently ranked No. 2 in APP Men's Doubles), you're going to get a team that's tough to beat. This pair cruised to the gold medal, topping Kyle Yates & Dave Weinbach in the final. Women's Split Age Pro Doubles Recap: APP No. 1 Ranked Women's Doubles player Megan Fudge teamed with Sheri Courtier to cruise through the split age draw for the title. APP No. 1 Ranked Women's Doubles player Megan Fudge teamed with Sheri Courtier to cruise through the split age draw for the title. Mixed Split Age Pro Doubles Recap: Newly minted 'senior pro' Lee Whitwell teamed with one of the young guns on tour Patrick Kawka to take the split age mixed gold. Senior Pro Competition Quick Recap Men's Senior Open Singles: Marcello Jardim cruised to the gold medal as the No. 1 seed and defended his 2024 singles title here. Marcello Jardim cruised to the gold medal as the No. 1 seed and defended his 2024 singles title here. Men's Senior Open Doubles: Jamie Oncins & Marcello Jardim, ranked No. 1 and No. 4 on the APP's Champions tour, took the final as the No. 1 seeds. Jardim gets the senior men's double for the weekend. Jamie Oncins & Marcello Jardim, ranked No. 1 and No. 4 on the APP's Champions tour, took the final as the No. 1 seeds. Jardim gets the senior men's double for the weekend. Women's Senior Open Singles: Karin Ptaszek-Kochis defended her 2024 US Open senior singles title. Karin Ptaszek-Kochis defended her 2024 US Open senior singles title. Women's Senior Open Doubles: Sheri Courter & Molly Carter took the title after the top seeds were upset early. Sheri Courter & Molly Carter took the title after the top seeds were upset early. Mixed Senior Open Doubles: Jaime Oncins paired with Lee Whitwell to make it a double Senior pro gold weekend. The Pro Pickleball Medal Tracker has now been updated with these results; check out this link online for a complete pro medal history for all tours and all pro events dating to the beginnings of all the major pro tours, plus pro events that predated 2020. Next up on the Pickleball Calendar? According to my Master Pickleball Schedule , the APP returns to action next weekend at the Vlasic Classic in Cincinnati. It's also the first waiver period for MLP (which should be fascinating). The rest of the month gives us some of the biggest events of the season: PPA's Atlanta Grand Slam and the APP's NYC Open follow in successive weekends in mid to late May. It's a great month for pro pickleball! All match stats quoted in this article are courtesy of PickleWave. Visit for the premier source of Pro Pickleball data, including match replays, highlights, stats, and discussion. PickleWave has more than 22,000 matches in its database across all the pro tours.
Indian Express
01-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Indian Express
Andre Agassi's professional pickleball debut off to winning start as he partners teenage star
Andre Agassi is now racking up wins in pickleball too! The eight-time Grand Slam champion, who retired from professional tennis in 2006, seems to have found a second wind in a similar-feeling-but-different sport: pickleball! A day after he turned 55 years old, Agassi joined hands with an 18-year-old partner, Anna Leigh Waters, to claim a win in the mixed pro division at the US Open Pickleball Championships on Wednesday. Agassi and Leigh Waters defeated a pair of even younger teens 11-8, 9-11, 11-7. Leigh Waters is the top-ranked player in the world in women's singles. According to Forbes, Waters earned more than $3 million playing pickleball in 2024. The report called her pickleball's 'biggest and most marketable star'. A report on CNBC's website, stated that the partnership had come about after Leigh Waters' suggestion, which Agassi accepted. 'She's probably sick of winning so much, and that's why she called me and asked me to play,' Agassi joked. 'We both tend to err on the aggressive side, and I think that works,' Leigh Waters was quoted as saying in the article. 'Andre's goals are to grow the sport of pickleball, and that's a huge goal of mine. I thought if we partnered together, this would be a really awesome way to grow the sport.' Founded in 2016, the US Open Pickleball Championships has drawn crowds as large as 50,000 fans each year. USA reportedly has 13 million players playing the sport that is a mix of tennis and ping pong but uses paddles and a wiffleball. Agassi was inducted into the International Tennis Hall of Fame five years after retiring. He has become one of the most prominent tennis players to be associated with the pickleball, besides players like Eugenie Bouchard. Agassi had previously participated in made-for-TV pickleball exhibitions. He has also promoted pickleball equipment from his social media handles. While his career in his new sport gathers momentum, Agassi has not lost touch with tennis: he will be a studio analyst for TNT Sports in the final two rounds of the French Open this year. He won the title at Roland Garros in 1999 to complete a career Grand Slam. Agassi has also said that he was unlikely to play in Major League Pickleball or the PPA Tour. 'If I had the luxury of bandwidth to focus all my energy on just playing and body recovery and all that stuff, that would be a joy. But I don't,' he told CNBC. 'I'm in a different season now.'
