Bright & Ignatowich Get back to Championship Sunday

We know Ben Johns and Anna Leigh Waters are the undisputed top team in mixed doubles on the PPA Tour.

Who’s next? 

“We’re in the mix for the No. 2 spot,” said Anna Bright of herself and partner James Ignatowich. “We’re totally in there against every team, but we’re not definitively No. 2. We’re in the conversation.”

The conversation continues.

Ignatowich and Bright are back on Championship Sunday where they will face top-seeded Johns and Waters in the final of the Seattle Open and for now, at least this week, they are at least the second-best team in pickleball.

“We haven’t made Sunday in a while,” Bright said. “For us, it’s not been disappointing. We feel like the only team we’re not beating consistently is Ben and Anna Leigh. “We’ve had really good results.”

Ignatowich and Bright won a bronze medal together last month. There was a championship back in April and a silver medal back in March. And the pair came into Seattle as the No. 2 seed. It’s not like things aren’t going well.

They had an impressive run Friday, rallying in the second round after losing the first game to Hayden Patriquin and Maggie Brascia and then beating Christian Alshon and Tyra Black in a three-game grind, 11-9, 10-12, 11-9, coming back from a 6-2 deficit in the third game. 

Those wins put Bright and Ignatowich in a semifinal against sixth-seeded Thomas Wilson and Vivienne David which they won, 11-6, 12-10.

Now, it’s No. 1 vs. No. 2. 

Waters and Johns earned another trip to the finals – their sixth in a row – with an 8-11, 11-2, 11-8 win against Riley and Lindsey Newman. 

“There are certain professional players who have a huge time advantage over other players,” Ignatowich said. “They (Johns and Waters) are super-grooved and comfortable in their system and how they play. They have been there and done that so many times. They are the best, but in two or three years, who knows? There’s a chance the best player in two or three years hasn’t picked up a paddle yet.”

Ignatowich and Bright have played pickleball for less than two years. They started in October of 2021. They have quickly improved and gone from upstarts and underdogs to being part of the talk surrounding who the best players in the game are.

A win Sunday would definitely put the two in some rare company.

“It doesn’t matter,” Bright said of how she and Ignatowich are perceived. “With the way I came into the game, I had high expectations from the start. You’re used to having the target on your back. It’s a privilege.”

“I always feel like I am the underdog,” Ignatowich said. “I feel my best when I feel humble. I never take anyone for granted and I think when I’m out there, I need to be humble and play like it’s your first time.”