Jackie Kawamoto and Jade Kawamoto entered this week's PPA Tour Cincinnati Showcase with a less than 1% chance of winning the women's doubles title, according to futures markets on Kalshi, which the tour introduced this week as a legal way to bet on tournament outcomes in the U.S.

Even on Friday, when the field had been whittled down to eight quarterfinalists, the live odds still only gave the No. 6 seeds a 3% chance to win it all.

That all changed starting on Saturday, when they took down the top seeds and overwhelming favorites -- Anna Leigh Waters and Anna Bright -- 7-11, 11-6, 11-9 in the semifinals.

They backed it up on Sunday, claiming gold with another impressive win (8-11, 7-11, 11-6, 11-8, 11-7) over Jorja Johnson and Tyra Black, who were the No. 3 seed and coming off a gold medal of their own at the last PPA Tour event in Las Vegas.

It's the first gold medal on tour for both sisters, who had to overcome several major obstacles on their way to the title.

Their first challenge came before the tournament even started, as they (along with many other players) were forced to make a last-minute equipment change because their usual paddle of choice -- the Proton Series Three - Project Flamingo -- was not on the recently released list of UPA approved paddles for pro events. They both ended up switching to the JOOLA Perseus Pro IV for this event.

They also faced their share of adversity on the court, with big deficits in crucial moments in their wins on both Saturday and Sunday.

On Saturday against Waters/Bright, they were down 4-9 in Game 3 before rattling off 7 straight points to punch their ticket to the final. Then on Sunday against Johnson/Black, they lost the first two games and were in a close battle in the early stages of the do-or-die Game 3.

That's when they flipped the switch and started playing a more aggressive style, Jackie Kawamoto said in a post-match interview.

“Down 0-2, we just knew we had to do a better job of getting into net," she said. "We were struggling on our thirds, and we were like, ‘Screw it, let’s just crash on the fifths and see what happens.’ That gave us the edge a little bit and put us on the offensive."

Their first PPA Tour title was made even more special by the fact that this was a slam, with 2,000 ranking points on the line, and also somewhat of a home game for the sisters. They both played college tennis at the University of Dayton, which is less than an hour outside of Cincinnati, and they currently live and train in Indianapolis, which is a less than 2 hour drive away.

“We’re just so happy that we could do this in front of this crowd,” Jackie Kawamoto said. “Our parents and a lot of our friends from Indiana and Ohio are here, and it just means so much.”

In Sunday's bronze medal match, Waters/Bright beat Catherine Parenteau/Parris Todd 11-5, 11-6.

Here's what went down in the other divisions this weekend:

Alshon earns third men's singles title of season

Christian Alshon's road to even get to Sunday's final against Connor Garnett was impressive, as he had to go through No. 4 Jaume Martinez Vich and No. 1 Hunter Johnson in the quarterfinals and semifinals.

It's worth noting that Johnson -- who recently claimed the No. 1 ranking in men's singles -- appeared to be dealing with a leg injury in their semifinal match. But Alshon still needed to overcome a 6-0 deficit in Game 2 in that match to get the win.

He also took care of Garnett in 2 games in Sunday's final -- 11-8, 11-1 -- to earn his third singles title of the season (the others were in back-to-back fashion at the Cape Coral Open and Texas Open in the spring). The win ties him with Johnson for the most singles titles in 2025 -- Ben Johns (2) and John Lucian Goins (2) are the other two players who have won multiple titles this season.

Johnson bounced back with a win in Sunday's bronze medal match over Chris Haworth, 11-7, 11-1.

Johns, Tardio win fourth straight men's doubles gold

We appear to be in the midst of another run of dominance in men's doubles from Johns after some ups and downs earlier this season.

When he and brother Collin Johns ended their longstanding partnership following a win at the PPA Tour Masters in January, Ben Johns struggled to find his footing initially, suffering multiple losses with new partners Hayden Patriquin and Gabe Tardio.

It was Andrei Daescu and Christian Alshon who filled the void during that time period, winning two titles together in the spring.

There's been some chatter among pickleball fans and pundits who have wondered whether Daescu -- after his incredible performance during the Major League Pickleball playoffs -- was making a case as the best men's doubles player in the world.

Johns -- with the help of Tardio -- has now emphatically shut the door on any such talk, at least for the time being.

There have now been five meetings this season between Johns/Tardio and Alshon/Daescu, and Johns/Tardio lead the series 4-1. They've won four in a row, and the last two haven't been particularly close -- 10-12, 12-10, 11-3, 11-2 in Las Vegas and 11-2, 11-6, 11-9 on Sunday in Cincinnati. The matchup is starting to give Johns brothers vs. Wright/Newman vibes circa 2022/2023.

“I felt personally that this was probably our best performance in a final, level-wise,” Johns said after Sunday's win. “I was super satisfied with how we played in pretty much all respects in every game.”

CJ Klinger/JW Johnson won Sunday's bronze medal match over Staksrud/Patriquin, 8-11, 11-7, 11-4.

Waters, Johns continue dominant streak in mixed doubles

It took a year and a half before Ben Johns and Anna Leigh Waters got a chance to avenge one of their rare losses -- a defeat at the hands of Anna Bright/Andrei Daescu in the 2024 Austin Open mixed doubles final.

It was their only loss together in 2024, but because Bright/Daescu have only played together a handful of times since, we hadn't seen the rematch -- until Sunday.

Waters/Johns left no doubt this time around, winning 11-2, 11-8, 11-9.

“I told Ben that the match against Anna and Andrei in Austin has haunted me since that final, and I really wanted some revenge, so I’m glad we got this one,” Waters said after the win.

Waters and Johns have now won the past five PPA Tour events in mixed doubles, with their last loss coming to Jorja Johnson/JW Johnson at the North Carolina Open in April.

Jorja Johnson/JW Johnson beat Jessie Irvine/Gabe Tardio 11-6, 11-6 in Sunday's bronze medal match.

Waters tops Fahey for 8th singles title this season

Anna Leigh Waters has a crazy streak going right now: It's been more than 470 days since she last lost a singles match.

That streak is still alive after she beat No. 2 Kate Fahey 11-7, 13-11 on Sunday in Cincinnati.

The match was very close from the start, and Fahey led 6-1 at one point in Game 2, but Waters fought off multiple game points to close it out in two games.

"Having your opponent push you to the limit when you win, it just feels different," Waters said afterward. "I don’t want to say it feels better because it does feel good to beat somebody easily, but when you’ve battled and left it all out there and then come out with a win, it feels really good.”

Although her week ended in a loss on Sunday, the second-place finish for Fahey could be important for the remainder of the season in terms of points standings. Coming into this week, Fahey was No. 3 behind Waters and Kaitlyn Christian in the 2025 points standings. But with Cincinnati being a slam and Christian being eliminated in the quarterfinals, Fahey will move closer or potentially pass Christian for the No. 2 spot.

Catherine Parenteau beat Lea Jansen 11-9, 11-2 in the bronze medal match Sunday.