Amanda Anisimova cried the performance of her career on Wednesday afternoon in New York, banished the spirits of her Wimbledon Nightmare with a sensational 6-4, 6-3 quarter-final victory against second Iga Swiateek placed in 1 hour 36 minutes. Less than eight weeks after she was dredged double in the final in the All England Club by the Polish star, the 24-year-old American hit back with fearless Ball-Triking and Nerveless Resolve to reach her first American open semi-final.
Swiatek, a six-time large champion and the US Open winner of 2022, seemed to be the intention to repeat the script when she immediately broke to extend her personal run to 13 consecutive games in the rivalry. But the eighth placed Anisimova hit her third breaking point and ended with a thumping forehand above the head that attracted a roar of the Arthur Ashe-Moderte and made sure that this would not be similar to the routine in July. “To be honest, when I was unable to keep in that first game, I was really, okay, we go here,” Anisimova admitted afterwards. “Winning that first game took some stress from my shoulders. Once I had it, I was in the game.”
The opening set was tightly wrapped and fiercely disputed, Anisimova staggered the breaking point with a fresh backhand along the line on 2-2 and Swiatek produced her best point of the match, a 17-shot exchange covered with a Forehand-Overhead, to keep the same pace on 3-4.
With Swiatek who served on 4-5, Anisimova forced two set points and the second when her rival squirted a forehand long. In 50 minutes she had taken the opener and won 12 of 17 points on her opponent’s second serve with the kind of Branse Treffer and Baseline aggression that have long been her trademarks.
Swiatek, whose summerhaul Al contained titles in Wimbledon and Cincinnati, tried to confirm itself again at the start of the second and broke for 2-0 while the crowd moved uncomfortably. Anisimova refused to withdraw, hold on to 15-30 and then get a forehand return winner to create a double breaking point in the fourth game. A ballistic backhand sealed the break back and from there the American never let go of the initiative.
The usually impenetrable calmness of Swiateek started to burst when her first percentage fell and the intensity of the coercion mounted. On 3-4 she was staggering again and coughs the decisive break with her third double error of the set. Moments later, Anisimova insured her place in the last four with a backhand winner who cut and overtaken the power cord.
“Today was absolutely different from any other game I played because of the circumstances,” said Anisimova, who was born in Central New Jersey and grew up in Florida. “I really tried to prepare myself mentally in the last 24 hours, more than physical. I did not get there with a shred of fear. I was constantly moving and tried to pump myself up, which is not something I usually do. I felt that I really supported myself, and that helped me play better.”
She also revealed that she had revised Wimbledon’s trauma the night before. “Nobody told me, but I saw it back, as painful as it was, just to see what I can avoid or what went wrong,” she said. “Then I had to look at some good highlights to remove that from my brain. I think it was important for me to see what happened last night in today’s game. I realized that I was so slow in that final. But it happens, I am human. Some people sometimes freeze.”
Swiatek, frank in defeat, pointed to her serving struggles. “I thought it was good from the baseline, but the serve made the difference,” she said. “Amanda won more points from her serve, and I had trouble making the first serving. She returned the ball so well from my second service. That made the difference.”
She emphasized that Wimbledon had not given her a false sense of safety: “It didn’t matter to me. Everyone knows how Amanda can play. She didn’t play well in Wimbledon, but it’s not like she’s always making the same mistakes. Today everything was different.”
For Anisimova, who took a hiatus in mental health care in 2023 and only last year her way back to the top 50, the victory was both Cathartic and Historical. Already this summer a finalist at Wimbledon and a semi-finalist at Roland Garros in 2019, she has now delivered her breakthrough on a home floor. She is also the first American woman since Serena and Venus Williams in 2002 to reach the semi-final on all three surfaces at Grand Slam events.
She creaked almost twice as many winners (23) as casual mistakes (12) and checked the pace everywhere, rushed Swiatek with the depth of her foundations and kept her nerve at the greatest moments. “Today is definitely the most meaningful victory I have had in my life,” she said. “It is the furthest I once opened at the US and it feels surreal. I feel that I have proven myself that I can really give the head with the top players.”
On Thursday she will be confronted with Naomi Osaka or Karolína Muchová for a place in the final. “Both are incredibly tough opponents,” she said. “Naomi has won four Grand Slams and she looks like she really found her groove. Karolina is so cunning and I love to see her playing. Anyway, it will be very difficult, but I look forward to it.”
Just like the Ashe Stadium public that will be firm in its corner. Fifty-three days after her heartache Wimbledon, she gave New York a comeback story to enjoy.
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