Anna Leigh Waters and Catherine Parenteau have advanced to the women’s doubles final after a challenging match against Callie Smith and Lucy Kovalova, winning 11-7, 11-4. The match was complicated by Waters’ medical timeout early in the first game.
Waters, who was playing her third match of the day, had to leave the court for about 15 minutes after experiencing dizziness and low blood sugar. “After my singles match, I started feeling sick and got a bit lightheaded. The medics checked me and found my blood sugar was low,” Waters explained.
Despite the setback, Waters returned to the court and managed to secure the win with Parenteau’s stellar performance. Waters acknowledged Parenteau’s crucial role in the victory, noting, “Catherine played incredibly well. She took charge of the court and supported me through the tough moments.”
In the other semifinal, Anna Bright and Rachel Rohrabacher defeated No. 8 seeds Lacy Schneemann and Jackie Kawamoto 11-6, 11-6. This victory marks Bright and Rohrabacher’s ninth final appearance together this year.
Schneemann and Kawamoto, though competing together for the first time, had strong performances earlier in the tournament, including wins over No. 9 seeds Lea Jansen and Parris Todd and No. 3 seeds Etta Wright and Meghan Dizon.
Bright was pleased with the straight-game win, saying, “Lacy and Jackie are a strong team with different strengths, so I’m happy we managed to win in straight games.”
Bright and Rohrabacher will face Waters and Parenteau in the final. Although they handed the top seeds their only loss as a partnership back in March, they have struggled in recent Championship Sunday matchups.
Rohrabacher often reviews the March victory to prepare. “I study that match a lot because we play Anna Leigh and Catherine frequently. We need to focus on what we can control and aim for a strong start,” she said.
