Naples US Open grows into pickleball’s biggest stage as Waters dominate again

Anna Leigh Waters kept Naples at the center of pickleball again, and the 10th anniversary Franklin US Open made clear why this stop has become the sport’s biggest stage. Waters and her mother, Leigh Waters, won the women’s pro doubles title for a third straight year, giving the family another signature result at a tournament that now sits near the top of the pickleball calendar.

The scale around them matched the result. The event ran April 11 to 18, 2026 at the USOP National Pickleball Center, the newly branded name for what was once East Naples Community Park. The facility is billed as the largest pickleball complex in the world, with 65 dedicated lighted courts, including six championship courts, and an 8,000-player club attached to it. That kind of inventory is what allows Naples to stage an event that drew more than 3,450 athletes from 40 countries and about 55,000 spectators, while still leaving thousands would-be entrants on the outside because court space ran out.

That bottleneck is part of the story. The US Open has grown into a destination not just for the top pros, but for amateurs and senior pros who treat Naples as a yearly pilgrimage. The event’s own materials lean into that festival feel, with live streams, a championship court schedule, food trucks, parking and guest services built around the grounds. USA Pickleball also highlighted the 2026 US Open as one of the sport’s most recognized events, and the tournament’s official branding calls it the “Biggest Pickleball Party in the World.”

Franklin Sports arriving as the official title sponsor in 2026 added another layer to the event’s rise. It signaled how commercial pickleball has matured, with major brands now attached to the sport’s marquee gatherings and the Naples event firmly positioned as a proving ground for both elite play and fan demand. The tournament began as a bold idea in Naples and has turned into a showcase that matters to players, sponsors and destination planners alike.

Waters’ results kept that spotlight fixed on the family. Leigh Waters remains Anna Leigh Waters’ manager and coach, and the pair is the only mother-daughter team in pro pickleball. Waters also teamed with Jay Devilliers in mixed pro doubles, beating Sofia Sewing and Casey Diamond 10-12, 11-2, 11-9, a win that kept her in position for another headline run. In Naples, the message was simple: the biggest names still matter, but the event’s real power now comes from the way championship play, sponsorship money and facility scale all converge in one place.