Decoding the journey of American tennis star Amanda Anisimova
America's Amanda Anisimova knocked 13th seed Naomi Osaka out of the Australian Open on Friday. The former saved two match points to claim a 4-6, 6-3, 7-6(5) win in the third round. It was Anisimova's seventh win over a Top 20 opponent and the first since defeating Alison Riske at the 2020 US Open. Here, we decode the journey of Anisimova.
- Anisimova stunned Osaka, who is a two-time Australian Open champion.
- The latter clinched her second title in 2021 after defeating Jennifer Brady in the final.
- Osaka has also won the US Open twice (2018 and 2020).
- Meanwhile, Anisimova has gone past the fourth round of a Grand Slam only once.
- She reached the semi-finals in the 2019 French Open.
Anisimova has a career-win loss record of 112-63 (women's singles). She has won two WTA titles as of now. Earlier this month, the American won was crowned champion of the Melbourne Summer Set 2. She defeated Aliaksandra Sasnovich in the final. Her only other title came in April 2019 when she won the Claro Open (defeated Astra Sharma in the final).
Anisimova tasted success quite early in her career. In 2015, she won Abierto Juvenil Mexicano, a high-level Grade A tournament. Thereafter, she won Grade 1 Copa del Cafe and reached the final at Grade A Copa Gerdau. As a result, Anisimova achieved a career-high ITF junior ranking of number two. She was ranked outside the top 300 before the 2015 Abierto Juvenil Mexicano.
In 2016, Anisimova reached the final of the French Open girls' singles event. She became the first American to do so in 14 years. However, Rebeka Masarova defeated her in the summit clash. In 2017, Anisimova beat fellow American Coco Gauff to win the US Open girls' singles title. During the 2018 Indian Wells, Anisimova claimed her first Top 10 victory (against Petra Kvitova).
At the 2019 Australian Open, Anisimova defeated 11th seed Aryna Sabalenka to reach the fourth round. Later that year, the former became the youngest semi-finalist at the French Open in over a decade. Anisimova upset defending champion Simona Halep to reach the semis. As of now, the American has a win-loss record of 17-11 at Grand Slams. She is yet to win one.
Anisimova is yet to lose a WTA match this year. She downed Alison Van Uytvanck, Sorana Cirstea, Irina-Camelia Begu, Daria Kasatkina, and Aliaksandra Sasnovich to win the Melbourne Summer Set 2 earlier this month. The emphatic win over Osaka at the Australian Open took Anisimova's unbeaten streak to 8-0 in 2022. She will face world number one Ashleigh Barty in the fourth round.
Anisimova saved two match points against Osaka at the Australian Open. It was the first time since 2019 that Anisimova won from a match point down. The former did so in the first round of Mallorca 2019, defeating Tereza Martincova 3-6, 7-6(7), 6-4.
