The final day of the PPA Atlanta Slam was played outside in front of a packed house and the players did not disappoint. Lets breakdown all five championship matches beginning with women’s singles.
Women’s Singles Championship: Waters cruises in two
Parris Todd played Anna Leigh Waters extremely close the last time these two met in Atlanta last May. Waters looked to determine to not let that happen again as she got off to a blazing fast start winning game one 11-1 and backed it up an 11-6 win in game two. It was a prototypical Anna Leigh Waters win as she used her speed and athleticism to create shots from all over the 20 by 44. She now has nine singles gold medals on the year.
Men’s Doubles Championship: Johns brothers back on top
The Johns brothers came out strong against the underdogs Tyson McGuffin and Jaume Martinez Vich. The Johns were able to neutralize the early attacks of the Martinez Vich backhand, something previous opponents had struggled with leading up to the final. They took the first two games 11-4, 11-0 but the underdogs were able to fight back and win game three to make it a match. However they couldn't sustain it as the Johns secured their first men's doubles title since April.
Women’s Doubles Championship: Rohrabacher/Bright pull off the upset
Anna Bright and Rachel Rohrabacher got off to a fast start in game one winning 11-3. They got to the line on serve and executed flawlessly on speedups. They were able to fight off an early surge in game two by the top seeds to pull ahead two games to none. Despite being up the match still felt like it wasn’t over, mostly because Anna Leigh Waters and Catherine Parenteau sport an 112-1 record as a partnership. They ended up losing a close game three 11-9 but they didn’t let down one bit as they finished off the match in four games. They earned their second win of the year over Waters/Parenteau and their sixth gold medal of the year.
Men’s Singles Championship: Hunter Johnson erases big deficit
Hunter Johnson found himself down 7-0 in the final game of the men's singles final against Connor Garnett. He had won game one 11-2 but lost game two and all the momentum was on the side of the guy with two gold medals to his name on the year. Johnson dug deep though and began to chip away at the lead and pulled off one of the best comebacks of the year to earn his first PPA gold medal of 2024.
Mixed Doubles Championship: Waters & Johns in straights
After losing the women’s doubles final, Anna Leigh Waters looked laser focused in the last match of the day. She and Ben got out to a two game lead but found themselves in a big hole in game three, down 2-10. Rather than getting their minds right for game four, they ran off ten points in a row to close the match out in straights. They now own twelve mixed doubles titles as a team in 2024.
