Anna Leigh Waters and Catherine Parenteau: When it comes to women’s doubles pickleball, defeating the duo of Anna Leigh Waters and Catherine Parenteau is a near-impossible task. The recent final at the Atlanta Slam showed the difficulty of this challenge. Yet, despite Waters’ dominance and Parenteau’s strong defensive play, Anna Bright and Rachel Rohrabacher employed a strategy that gave them a fighting chance—and more importantly, laid out a possible path for others to follow.
In the world of professional pickleball, finding ways to compete against Waters and Parenteau feels like chasing shadows. Still, there’s always a strategy that maximizes your odds, however slim. Bright and Rohrabacher, although falling short, showed exactly how to best confront this formidable pair, highlighting that a well-executed plan can at least raise the odds.
Before the match, a simple plan emerged: (1) place Bright on the left side full-time, and (2) relentlessly target Parenteau. It sounds straightforward, but it worked. The stats from RealClearStats back up what was visible to any keen observer: Parenteau was forced into action more often than Waters, and the results were telling.
Here’s a breakdown of the key stats:
- Parenteau was far less effective in firefights, countering only about half as well as the other three players.
- She opted to reset rather than counter more than twice as often as Waters, and three times as often as Bright and Rohrabacher.
- Despite playing the right side, Parenteau saw more than half of the balls in the match. Bright and Rohrabacher systematically targeted her, forcing Waters to cover more ground, which led to uncharacteristic mistakes from the world’s top player.
The takeaway? The strategy to beat Waters and Parenteau depends on exploiting Parenteau’s more passive play in firefights. Here’s what worked:
- Target Parenteau: Nearly every ball should be directed her way. The stats make it clear: keeping the ball away from Waters is a must.
- Cross-court speedups: While cross-court attacks usually allow the opponent time to respond, targeting Parenteau in firefights is an exception. Even at the cost of allowing Waters to cover more ground, it’s a better option than engaging Waters directly.
- Speed up the game: The longer the rally, the more time Waters has to assert herself. Short points, with aggressive play targeting Parenteau, keep Waters from finding opportunities to dictate the pace.
News in Brief: Anna Leigh Waters and Catherine Parenteau
In women’s doubles pickleball, defeating Anna Leigh Waters and Catherine Parenteau is challenging. At the Atlanta Slam, Anna Bright and Rachel Rohrabacher demonstrated a strategy targeting Parenteau to exploit her passive play. By focusing on quick points and cross-court speedups, they provided a blueprint for others to follow in future matches.
