The PPA Tour Asia - Hanoi Cup marked the first time Anna Leigh Waters competed officially in a tournament outside of the United States. For seven years as a professional athlete, she had exclusively played in her home country. Her participation highlights Vietnam's growing appeal to global pickleball stars.

Waters has accumulated an impressive 181 PPA titles, including 41 instances of achieving the "hat-trick" by winning singles, women's doubles, and mixed doubles at the same event. Despite being only 19 years old, Waters has earned recognition within the pickleball community as the greatest female player of all time, holding the world number one ranking across all categories: singles, women's doubles, and mixed doubles.

Waters' key strengths include her rapid movement, exceptionally quick reflexes, and a relentless offensive playing style that makes it challenging for opponents to control the pace of a match. Consequently, she has faced virtually no rivals in women's singles for many years. Waters has secured 22 consecutive PPA singles titles and has remained undefeated in 49 finals since 2022.

At the Hanoi Cup, Waters competed in women's doubles alongside Anna Bright and in mixed doubles with Ben Johns, the world's number one male player and also a pickleball legend. She withdrew from her preferred singles event, citing concerns about her physical condition due to a demanding schedule. Following the tournament in Hanoi, Waters is scheduled to visit TP HCM on 6-7/4 for training sessions and exhibition events.

During her appearance on stage at the PPA Hanoi Cup with Vietnamese representatives, Anna Leigh Waters expressed great delight upon receiving and personally donning a traditional conical hat (non la). The image of the 19-year-old player holding the non la with a shy expression quickly went viral across social media. Out of admiration for Waters, Vietnamese fans affectionately gave her a Vietnamese name, "Thu Thuy". Anna happily and comfortably pronounced the two words "Thu Thuy" herself.

In the women's doubles event, the world's number one team of Anna Leigh Waters (right) and Anna Bright advanced to the semifinals after defeating Chao Yi Yang and Brooke Buckner with scores of 11-4, 9-11, 11-8.

In the mixed doubles event at the PPA Tour Asia Hanoi Cup, Anna Leigh Waters and Ben Johns demonstrated their superior class by easily securing a spot in the quarterfinals. Their dominant play and ability to control the pace of the game meant Waters and Johns encountered minimal difficulty.

In the realm of sports fashion, Waters is the first professional pickleball player to be chosen by Nike for a sponsorship. The leading sports fashion brand, Nike, is now significantly investing in pickleball stars, shifting its budget allocation from tennis players. Prior to her partnership with Nike, she was associated with Fila. However, both parties could not reach a new agreement when their contract expired in 2025.

Since 2024, Waters has earned over three million USD annually from prize money and endorsement deals, making her the highest-earning individual in the global pickleball community, surpassing male legend Ben Johns. According to Forbes, in addition to her tournament winnings, Anna Leigh Waters holds numerous commercial contracts with fashion brands and paddle manufacturers, including Paddletek, Carvana, Lock Laces, Shiseido, and Cetaphil.

Anna Leigh Waters was born in 2007 in Delray Beach, Florida. In 2017, her family relocated to Pennsylvania due to Hurricane Irma. There, her grandfather introduced Anna to pickleball, and she developed a passion for the sport. In 2019, Anna Leigh Waters became the youngest professional pickleball player in the world. After seven years, she has achieved legendary status in the sport at the age of 19.

Nhan Dat - Giang Huy