AMERICAN eighth seed Amanda Anisimova produced a stunning upset of Iga Swiatek to reach the semi-finals of the US Open on Wednesday and avenge her Wimbledon final drubbing.
Anisimova bounced back from a crushing 6-0, 6-0 defeat in July’s Wimbledon final to win 6-4, 6-3 on the Arthur Ashe Stadium court.
Polish second seed Swiatek entered the US Open as the bookmakers’ favourite after following up her Wimbledon triumph with victory in the WTA Cincinnati Open event last month.
The six-time Grand Slam champion’s hopes of adding a second US Open title to her collection were dashed as Anisimova roared to a redemptive victory in an absorbing one hour 36-minute battle.
“To come back from Wimbledon like that is really special to me,“ said Anisimova, who clinched victory in the second set after a net cord bounced in her favour on match point.
“I feel like I worked so hard to turn it around after that… I knew I was going to have to dig really deep,“ added the American, whose lopsided loss at Wimbledon was only the third Grand Slam final in history where a player had lost without winning a game.
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.
Anisimova responded immediately to break and get it back on serve.
The American was under pressure in the fifth game, finding herself two break points down at 15-40 before digging herself out of that hole to hold for a 3-2 lead.
The breakthrough came 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.
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, another net cord bounced just out of Swiatek’s reach to seal victory.
The 24-year-old Anisimova will play two-time former US Open champion Naomi Osaka or Czech 11th seed Karolina Muchova on Thursday for a place in the final. – AFP
