Pickleball Future Watch: Anna Leigh Waters Pickleball Cards – Anna Leigh Waters is only 16 years old, but she is arguably the biggest star in the fast-emerging world of pickleball. The daughter of two Division I athletes, Waters primarily played tennis and soccer in her youth. When her family was forced to evacuate her native Florida in 2017 due to Hurricane Irma, Waters learned the game of pickleball from her grandfather. The rest is history.
In 2019, Waters became the youngest pro pickleball player ever at age 12, forming a team with her mother Leigh. The team revolutionized the sport with an aggressive, strength-and-speed approach that disdained the traditional dink-and-dunk style. Waters has subsequently formed top teams with Anna Bright and Catherine Parenteau. She is also half of the top mixed doubles combination with Ben Johns. As the top female and male players in the world, they rank as one of the most dominant teams in all of sports. Of course, Waters is equally dominant in singles competition.
Waters is compiling numbers that almost seem to have emerged from a video game. She has almost 150 wins to just three losses thus far in 2023 and an incredible 18 Triple Crowns in her young career. Embracing the mantra of “pressure is a privilege,” Waters balances her schoolwork with constant training, competition, and her demonstrable role in expanding the appeal of the PPA Tour.
A budding mainstream star, Waters has played in exhibitions with some of the biggest names in sports and entertainment. She has played with Sugar Ray Leonard, Michael Phelps, Jamie Foxx, Scottie Scheffler, Jordan Spieth and Larry Fitzgerald. Sponsorships are also accruing rapidly for a charismatic star who puts in the work on the media circuit to grow the sport. Waters is charting a career destined to be remembered for both dominance on-court and the translation of her stardom into an appealing, hugely marketable persona.
Pickleball Future Watch: Anna Leigh Waters Pickleball Cards – More Resources
- PPA Player Profile
- Beckett Card Catalog
- 2023 Leaf Pickleball Premier Edition Trading Cards Checklist
Pickleball Future Watch: Anna Leigh Waters Pickleball Cards – Image Gallery
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