Waters won double gold at the 2026 Franklin US Open, marking a three-peat in Women's Pro Doubles. The event took place at the USOP National Pickleball Center in Naples, Florida.
Key points
Waters won double gold at the 2026 Franklin US Open.
This victory marks a three-peat in Women's Pro Doubles.
The event took place at the USOP National Pickleball Center.
The center is the largest pickleball facility in the world.
Franklin Sports was the title sponsor for this year's event.
Mentioned in this story
Franklin SportsUSOP National Pickleball CenterNaples, Florida
US Open of Pickleball
Waters 2026 US Open champs
The Waters mother-daughter duo made it a 3-peat in Naples, winning the Women's Pro Doubles title.
Franklin US Open
The 10th annual US Open of Pickleball was held last weekend on the grounds of the newly-branded USOP National Pickleball Center (formerly known as East Naples Community Park) in Naples, Florida. This center is the largest pickleball facility in the world with 65 lighted courts, and is home to an 8,000-strong club of players.
This yearâs US Open featured a brand new title sponsor in Franklin Sports, who continues their push of being affiliated with the biggest assets in the sport.
For most of the last decade, the US Open laid claim as the biggest pickleball tournament (by participation) in the land, and the event continues to max out at nearly 3,500 participants, limited only by the number of courts they have at their avail. The demand for this tournament leads to thousands of applicants being turned away, and this tournament continues to be one of the most important events on the calendar for amateurs, pros, and senior pros alike. I caught up with a representative of new title sponsor Franklin at the Pickleball Slam event held last week, who intimated that the event is exploring ways to capture this demand going forward, along with a possible change in its relationship with the PPA that could clear the way for a return of the UPA contracted pros. Something to possibly look forward to in next yearâs iteration.
First off, whoever did the seeding in this event should probably reconsider whatever methodology theyâre using, since the semi finals were comprised of the following for seeds: 9, 20, 3, and 18. The 20 seed in particular, Ryler DeHeart, seems the most ridiculous, given that heâs ranked 4th on the APP.
In the final, No. 9 Dusty Boyer (who had vanquished the top seed Ronan Camron in an epic 15-13 game three win in the quarters) crushed Jay Devilliers 4,2 for the title.
Gold: Dusty Boyer. Silver: Jay Devilliers. Bronze: Richard Livornese, Jr.
Womenâs Pro Singles Recap
Stewart Kat 2026 US Open
Kat Stewart adds a US Open gold to her trophy case.
US Open
One may have thought the final in Womenâs singles was a forgone conclusion, based on how many times the two top seeds (Kat Stewart at No. 1 and Sofia Sewing at No. 2) have met recently, but a couple of names in the draw had other ideas. Namely, top Australian No. 5 Roos van Reek and No. 3 seed Seone Mendez, who took the APPâs 2025 Tour Finals event last December.
Sure enough, the semis featured all four players and fans in Naples were treated to an exciting back half of the event. Stewart squeaked by Van Reek in one semi, while Mendez crushed Sewing in the other before Stewart laid down a statement win 4,1 in the final.
Gold: Kat Stewart. Silver: Seone Mendez. Bronze: Roos van Reek.
Mixed Pro Doubles Recap
Waters DEvilliers 2026 US Open
It took 16 tries, but Waters & Devilliers eventually won the gold medal.
Franklin US Open
Anna Leigh Waters, who has historically attended the US Open despite it not being sanctioned by the PPA, got a big boost this year when Jay Devilliers was also granted an exception by the UPA into this event, and they formed the top seed. Waters played in this event last year with Andre Agassi but fell early; this year they had much higher expectations. The pair cruised into the finals without being challenged, topping last yearâs Mixed gold winner Jack Munro (playing with van Reek) in the semis.
In the finals, they met the No. 2 seeded team of Casey Diamond & Sofia Sewing, a pair thatâs had plenty of success as of late. They won 2025âs USA Pickleball Nationals mixed title and they took the first APP International event of 2026 in Malaysia. The pair beat a tough team of Fudge & Livornese in the semis before facing off against the GOAT GOAT in the finals.
Sewing & Diamond more than held their own against Waters & Devilliers, beating them 12-10 in game one before getting washed in game two 11-2 to send the match to the deciding third game. There a thrilling match was eventually taken by the PPA pros 11-9, however it took Waters & Devilliers an unbelievable SIXTEEN (16) attempts at match point to close out the win, in an amazing display of grit and defensive pickleball from Sewing & Diamond.
Unfortunately the matchâs most viral moment was a disputed line call that Sewing called out but which Waters heavily disputed. Replays seemed to support the âoutâ call, but tensions were high on the court for sure.
Devilliers teamed with the PPA-exiled Ryan Fu and netted the top seed in the draw, but were upset in the semis by the criminally under-seeded No. 13 Ryler DeHeart & Kyle Koszuta (who did DeHeart upset in the seeding department to earn a 13-seed in Doubles and a 20-seed in singles?) They lost in the final to No 2 Jack Munro & Richard Livornese, giving Munro his 2nd US Open title in a row.
Anna Leigh and her mother Leigh Waters entered the event as the two-time defending US Open champions and were fittingly given the top seed. However, the pair were pressed early and went a game down in the semis to No. 5 Roos van Reek & Shelby Bates before rebounding and cruising into the final. There, they met the No. 3 seeds Bobbi Oshiro & Kat Stewart, who ousted the No. 2 pair in the semis. The APP pros could not do much with the Watersâ in the final, losing 5,6 to give Anna Leigh and her mom a 3-peat in this event.
Notable: with the bronze, Roos van Reek finished off a three-medal weekend at the US Open, capturing Bronze in singles, mixed, and gender doubles.
The US Open is famous for its Split-Age divisions, where pros and senior pros get to team up and get some early week competition. Hereâs some quick recaps of those split-age draws.
Menâs Split-Age Pro: To little surprise, the No. 1 seeded split-age menâs team of Jack Munro & Jamie Oncins, who individually are each (arguably) the best of their respective age groups in Naples, took the split-age title. They topped No. 3 Brandon Lane & Jose Derisi in the final.
Womenâs Split-Age Pro: Eugenia Carolina Lopez Ascarate & Simone Jardim outlasted the field and took the title as the No. 2 seeds.
Mixed Split-Age Pro: Ronan Camron & Eugenia Carolina Lopez Ascarate came out on top of a loaded field as the No. 8 seed, winning the title over 10th seeded Eva Welsher & Richard Livornese Jr.
A few notes on the senior divisions at the US Open, which continue to be the gold standard of the senior pro game. Even though the US Open isnât technically affiliated with the APP, it has adopted the APP monikers for its two senior pro divisions, a change from past years which just featured a 50+ Senior Pro division. These competitions are some of the most stacked senior pro draws Iâve ever seen, and the draws were a âWhoâs Whoâ of the current senior pickleball pro game.
Champions Pro Competition Quick Recap
Menâs Champions Pro Singles: Last yearâs APP No. 1 Youssef Bouzidi took out the fast-rising Blake Arrant in the semis, then beat the No. 1 seed and defending champ Marcello Jardim in the final for his first US Open gold.
Womenâs Champions Pro Singles: Karin Ptaszek-Kochis become the 3-time defending US Open champion by topping the Champions division newcomer Lopez in the final.
Menâs Champions Pro Doubles: Dave Weinbach & Dayne Gingrich took the title as the top seed, outlasting No. 2 Jardim & Oncins in the final.
Womenâs Champions Pro Doubles: Lee Whitwell & Eugenia Carolina Lopez took the 1-vs-2 final over Molly Carter & Sheri Courter.
Mixed Champions Pro Doubles: The top seeds were shocked in the 16s, opening a pathway for No. 2 Lee Whitwell / Jaime Oncins to take the title.
Masters Pro Competition Quick Recap
Menâs Masters Pro Singles: Dana Treister took out No. 1 David Spearman in a battle of the two top seeds.
Womenâs Masters Pro Singles: Karen Seguso took the small Masters singles draw.
Menâs Masters Pro Doubles: Martin Reist / Dan Granot cruised to the title as the top seed.
Womenâs Masters Pro Doubles: Sophie Amiach / Anna Shirley dominated the final, winning gold 11-0, 11-1.
Mixed Masters Pro Doubles: Anna Shirley / Lee Sponaugle took the gold in Mixed Masters pro.
The Pro Pickleball Medal Tracker spreadsheets have now been updated with these results. Click here for the Pro-only Medal Tracker, and click here for the Senior Pro Medal Tracker. These spreadsheets hold Medal winners for every pro event going back to the beginnings of the tours.
For US Open results, click on the tab in these spreadsheets that says âNon PPA-APPâ or âNonSancâ to show the events in major tournaments that remain unaffiliated with either pro tour.
Next up on the Pickleball Calendar? According to my Master Pickleball Schedule, we get a bit of a break next week with just an Australian event on the major books, then the first weekend in May features the APPâs Sacramento open and the PPAâs Atlanta Slam, the final event before the PPAâs tour finals.
Any Head to Head or career match stats quoted in this article are courtesy of PickleWave. Visit picklewave.com for the premier source of Pro Pickleball data, including match replays, highlights, stats, and discussion. PickleWave has more than 31,000 matches in its database across all the pro tours, and has started a fantastic new Bracket Challenge feature for Fantasy-style sports fans to try out.
Other resources I use frequently to cover Pickleball include:
