New York (AFP) – Amanda Anisimova said rewatching her traumatic Wimbledon final drubbing inspired her US Open revenge mission over Iga Swiatek on Wednesday after stunning the Polish second seed to reach the last four.
Two months after suffering a 6-0, 6-0 double-bagel disaster as Swiatek clinched her first Wimbledon crown, Anisimova turned the tables on the six-time Grand Slam winner to score a 6-4, 6-3 upset on the Arthur Ashe Stadium court. Eighth-seeded Anisimova, who will face two-time US Open champion Naomi Osaka in Thursday’s semi-finals, revealed afterwards that she had prepared for her quarter-final rematch by watching a replay of her harrowing Wimbledon defeat.
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“Last night — nobody told me to — but I watched (it) back, as painful as it was, just to see, like, what I can avoid or what went wrong,” Anisimova said. “Then after I had to watch some good highlights to remove that from my brain. It was important for me to see what happened going into today’s match.”
Anisimova said the Wimbledon loss had taught her to play without fear. “What I learned then and also throughout this tournament, I feel like with each match that I’ve played I tell myself to really not go into the match with fear…today I came out with not an ounce of fear,” she said.
Swiatek meanwhile said her defeat was down to her struggles on her service game, where she managed only 50% success rate on first serve, and won just 10 of 30 points on second serve. “I couldn’t win today’s match playing like that, serving like that, and with Amanda being so aggressive on the returns,” she said, adding that Anisimova’s performance contrasted sharply with her Wimbledon display.
“It was totally different,” Swiatek said. “She moved better, she played better. Everything was different.”
– Ominous start –
Wednesday’s quarter-final had started ominously for Anisimova, with the American being broken in the first game of the opening set to give Swiatek the early initiative. But Anisimova responded immediately to break and get it back on serve.
Anisimova was under pressure though in the fifth game, finding herself two break points down at 15-40. She dug herself out of that hole to hold for a 3-2 lead. The breakthrough game in the 10th game when Swiatek’s shaky serve once again left her in trouble at 15-40 down to leave Anisimova with two set points.
Swiatek saved the first but then slashed a wild forehand long to the back of the court to give Anisimova a one-set lead. Swiatek attempted to regroup in the second set and got an early break before opening up a 2-0 lead. But Anisimova once again exploited Swiatek’s weakness on serve to break back.
Another net cord in Anisimova’s favour gave her a 4-3 lead, and then Swiatek double-faulted on break point to leave her opponent serving for the match. Anisimova raced to 40-0 to take three match points, and although Swiatek saved the first two, the tennis gods were clearly on her rival’s side as another net cord bounced just out of Swiatek’s reach to seal victory.
© 2024 AFP
