John Lucian Goins beat Jack Sock 11-5, 12-10 on Sunday, Nov 8, to repeat as Worlds men's singles champion. Goins reached the final by beating No. 1 Chris Haworth 11-5, 11-5 in the quarterfinals and Christian Alshon 11-4, 11-9 in the semifinals. It is his second straight Worlds singles title.
Sock, the 13 seed, reached his first Worlds singles final with the run of the week. He beat defending champion Federico Staksrud in the Round of 16, dropping the first game 3-11 before winning 11-6, 11-8, then beat Roscoe Bellamy 11-8, 11-7 in the quarters and Hunter Johnson 11-5, 8-11, 11-1 in the semis. The former tennis pro turned pickleball regular keeps getting closer to a first PPA singles title.
Anna Leigh Waters beat Kate Fahey 11-3, 11-2 for her 300th career PPA singles win and her fourth straight Worlds singles title. She added women's doubles with Anna Bright, beating Sofia Sewing and Catherine Parenteau 11-4, 11-9, 11-5 for their 18th straight title together, a record. She completed the day with mixed doubles alongside Ben Johns, beating Jorja Johnson and JW Johnson 9-11, 11-6, 11-9, 3-11, 11-4 for a fourth straight mixed title at Worlds. That is her 46th Triple Crown, all after playing the first two finals back to back. The recap is at pickleball.com.
Why it matters: Goins beating the 1 seed, and Sock beating the defending champ to reach him, is a depth chart, not a fluke. And Anna Leigh won three events in one day, the same day she hit 300 singles wins.