Anna Bright, Hayden Patriquin sweep Ben Johns, Anna Leigh Waters at 2026 PPA Tour Mesa Cup
Last Edited
Feb 24 2026
Category
News
Anna Bright and Hayden Patriquin have been extremely close to taking down Ben Johns and Anna Leigh Waters in recent months.
In November, they lost to Johns/Waters in three games in the semifinals at the Pickleball World Championships.
In January, they lost to Johns/Waters in five games in the finals at the Masters.
Earlier this month, they lost to Johns/Waters in five games in the finals at the Cape Coral Open, which was especially heartbreaking because they had a match point in Game 4.
On Sunday at the PPA Tour Mesa Cup, Bright and Patriquin finally broke through in convincing fashion, sweeping the No. 1 seeds 11-8, 11-9, 11-3 in the final to earn their first gold medal together.
“I felt a lot of nerves,” Bright said after the match. “Even though (we were up) 10-3, I was so nervous."
Bright also poked fun at her and Patriquin's 0-6 record against Johns/Waters heading into Sunday's final.
“No one beats us seven times in a row,” she said.
Compared to previous meetings, Patriquin played a more aggressive style and dictated the pace from the start.
It's just the third loss for Johns/Waters in a final (the other two were: Austin 2024 to Bright/Andrei Daescu and North Carolina 2025 to JW and Jorja Johnson) and they are now 59-3 in finals together.
It was Patriquin's second gold medal in mixed doubles (the other was with Jorja Johnson) and Bright's 11th (with five different partners -- James Ignatowich, Riley Newman, Andrei Daescu, and Dylan Frazier).
“I have my friends here, my family … I’m kind of emotional," Patriquin said. "Honestly, I’m going to cry. It feels amazing."
Sunday's upset provides a much-needed jolt to a division that has been dominated by Johns/Waters for several years. While they have lost in the past, it's been very rare and they have always bounced back quickly to go on another multi-tournament run of wins. That could certainly happen again this time, or it's also possible that Patriquin/Bright have solved the riddle.
Sunday's sweep seemed to indicate that they had, and Bright said she was looking forward to future meetings between the two teams.
“I think matches against that team are only going to get better and better,” Bright said. “Just excited for the rest of the season.”
Here's a look at what happened in the other divisions at the PPA Tour Mesa Cup:
Men's singles: Haworth claims second gold of 2026
Chris Haworth continued to show why many consider him to be the No. 1 men's singles player in the world, even if his ranking points don't yet reflect that (because he hasn't played as many PPA Tour events as the other top players in the past 52 weeks).
On Sunday he took down Ben Johns 11-6, 11-6 to claim his third gold medal in his past four tournaments dating back to 2025. It was Johns' first time playing singles in several months, and he used the new JOOLA Pro V Perseus paddle (which goes on sale later this week) to make the final.
"It’s always fun to play Ben," Haworth said after Sunday's match. "It’s such an honor. He’s the legend of the sport, so it was really fun to play him in the finals.”
On his way to the final, Haworth defeated No. 72 seed Matthew Barlow, who made it through pro qualifying and took down No. 6 seed Roscoe Bellamy and No. 1 seed Hunter Johnson before falling to Haworth in the semifinals.
It's unclear whether Barlow, who isn't signed with the PPA Tour, will start playing regularly moving forward. He runs a pickleball club in Omaha, Nebraska, and has only played a handful of PPA Tour events over the past several years. If he does show up in future draws, though, he definitely proved this week that he's a player to watch moving forward.
Women's singles: Waters extends streak
Despite the loss in mixed doubles early in the day, Waters finished the day strong with a blowout win over No. 2 seed Kate Fahey, 11-3, 11-1.
She said she used the defeat in mixed to motivate her throughout the rest of Sunday's finals.
“I was trying for it to not be anger,” Waters said. “I was just trying to make it … good energy. Especially in the last match of the day, I try to use as little energy on celebrations and stuff as possible because I am a little worn out. ... I like to say it’s how you finish, not how you start. So I’m happy with my finish today.”
Men's doubles: Johns/Tardio fight off challenge
Sunday's men's doubles final between Ben Johns/Gabe Tardio and Hayden Patriquin/Christian Alshon was arguably the most exciting match of the day.
Patriquin/Alshon had several opportunities late in Game 4 to win and force a Game 5, but Johns/Tardio ultimately closed it out to win the match 8-11, 11-6, 11-8, 13-11.
It's the 12th gold medal for Johns/Tardio, and they've won 9 of the last 10 tournaments they've played together.
But even though the No. 1 seed continued their run at the top of this division, Sunday's final was still a good sign for Alshon/Patriquin.
After a disappointing showing in Cape Coral last week, where they lost to JW Johnson/CJ Klinger 11-2, 11-3 in the semifinals, they rebounded with a strong week and showed that they are capable of going toe-to-toe with the best team.
Alshon/Patriquin now have three silvers and a bronze so far in 2026 and appear to be the main threat to the top seeds.
Women's doubles: Bright/Waters cruise to title
On paper, Sunday's women's doubles final between No. 1 Anna Leigh Waters/Anna Bright and No. 2 Jorja Johnson/Tyra Black looked to be a close matchup.
Johnson/Black were one of just two teams to beat Waters/Bright in 2025, and they also had a close semifinal match earlier this year at the PPA Tour Masters (which Waters/Bright won in 3 games).
But this time the No. 1 seed left little doubt, sweeping Johnson/Black 11-1, 13-11, 11-7 to claim the title.
With the win, both Waters and Bright walked away from Mesa with two gold medals.
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