Lea Jansen is back in another singles final.
Nothing new. Nothing surprising, either. She’s one of the most-decorated players on tour with 45 medals in all, making her a top-three professional pickleball player in the women’s game. 26 of those medals came in singles, a number that places her as second best of all-time behind AL Waters who is at 30 medals. Catherine Parenteau is close behind Waters and Jansen with 24 singles medals.
And Sunday, when Jansen takes the court against Anna Leigh Waters in the final of the Seattle Open, it will be her last singles match.
“I was thinking about it in Texas (back in June), but I couldn’t go out with having those two match points against her [Waters],” Jansen said. “And I didn’t want my last match to be altitude sickness. We’ve been talking about it a while now. I’m 31. I’m a diabetic. Under doctors’ orders, they strongly advised me not to play anymore. It’s detrimental to my health. Sunday will be the last time you see me out there.”
Jansen had a pair of match points against Waters at the Texas Open in June but was unable to win. She suffered altitude sickness in her last singles tournament last month in Denver and even before both of those events, Jansen has been outspoken on social media about not wanting…
