During the 2017 French Open a 15-year-old Amanda Anisimova made her grand slam debut. She managed to book a place in the draw after claiming the USTA’s wildcard thanks to an impressive display on the ITF tour. Unfortunately for her, she crashed out in the first round in three sets to Kurumi Nara.
Two years on from that defeat, Anisimova has now reached her maiden quarter-final of a major. On Monday she strolled to a 6-3, 6-0, win over Spain’s Aliona Bolsova. Continuing her run of not dropping a set in the tournament so far. On route to the milestone, she also knocked out 11th seed Aryna Sabalenka.
“I feel like it’s been building up. I don’t really feel like I’m young and first time.” Anisimova commented about being the youngest French Open quarter-finalist since 2006.
“I have been playing a lot of matches. Last year I took a little bit of time off, but it didn’t really affect me. I’m kind of getting used to it already.”
Born to Russian parents, Anisimova’s family moved to America in 1998. Looking to find better opportunities for their eldest daughter Maria, who went on to play collegiate tennis in Pennsylvania. They settled in Florida and it would be Amanda who turned out to be the sporting star of the family.
A successful junior career saw Anisimova rise to as high as No.2 in the world. In 2017 she won the US Open girls’ title without dropping a set. A year prior, she also reached the final of the junior competition in Roland Garros. However, she was denied the title by Switzerland’s Rebeka Masarova.
On the professional tour, Anisimova’s breakout occurred last year in Indian Wells. Despite her young age, she shocked Petra Kvitova on route to the fourth round. Becoming the youngest player to defeat a top 10 opponent since 2005. Prior to that tournament, she had only contested two main-draw matches at tour-level. Following on from Indian Wells, Anisimova has rocketed up the rankings to a current ranking best of 51st. In April she won her first WTA title at the Copa Colsanitas Open in Colombia.
“I like to step into the court. I feel like on clay I have been kind of getting used to it more because it’s different than hard, and I’m really aggressive on hard.” Anisimova explains about her style of play.
“I have been kind of mixing it up with playing higher and playing lower, so mixing up my shots. I feel like I have to work a lot on my serve. So that’s really important on the clay surface, too.”
Anisimova grew up being taught by her father, but is now under the guidance of Jaime Cortes. A former professional player from Colombia, who also has an academy in his home country. Another member of her team is fitness trainer Yutaka Nakamura, who travelled on the tour with Maria Sharapova between 2011-2018.
“No player is ever a finished product.” She states. “I still have a lot of work to do and a lot of building to do.”
The next test of the America player’s talent will occur on Tuesday at the French Open. Already the first player born in the 2000s to reach the last eight of a major, Anisimova faces defending champion Simona Halep. A challenge she is relishing.
“I can’t describe how excited I am.” She said. “It’s amazing playing her. She won it (the French Open) the previous year. So honestly, I couldn’t ask for a better matchup. I’m just extremely happy and excited for the next round.”
On paper, it should be a straightforward win for third seed Halep based on both ranking and experience. However, don’t rule out a fearless Anisimova. Anything is possible in the world of tennis.
