Anna Leigh Waters and Ben Johns advanced to the mixed doubles final at the CIBC PPA Tour Finals with an 11-7, 11-4 victory over St. Louis Shock teammates Anna Bright and Gabe Tardio in the second semifinal.
Strategy to Counter Gabe Tardio’s Aggression
One of the keys to their success was keeping the hyperaggressive Gabe Tardio out of the middle during dink rallies.
Anna Leigh Waters explained, “In Dallas, we played Anna and Quang [Duong], and I feel like Quang and Gabe play kind of similarly in some ways. They’re both super aggressive mixed doubles players, so we felt like if we could keep them at bay and limit that aggressiveness and just keep me in the crosscourt rallies with Anna, then we would get what we wanted.”
By sticking to this strategy, Anna Leigh Waters and Ben Johns were able to limit the impact of Tardio’s aggression and secure the two-game victory.
A Rematch in the Final
The final will be a rematch of a pool play contest from Friday, where Waters and Johns won 8-11, 11-6, 11-5 over Christian Alshon and Catherine Parenteau.
News in Brief: Anna Leigh Waters and Ben Johns
Anna Leigh Waters and Ben Johns advanced to the mixed doubles final at the CIBC PPA Tour Finals with an 11-7, 11-4 victory over St. Louis Shock teammates Anna Bright and Gabe Tardio. Waters and Johns successfully neutralized Tardio’s aggression by limiting his role in crosscourt rallies. With this victory, they will face Catherine Parenteau and Christian Alshon in the final, a rematch of a pool play contest they won 8-11, 11-6, 11-5.
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