Amanda Anisimova is a Grand Slam finalist once again.
Less than two months removed from a double bagel in her first major title match at Wimbledon, Anisimova earned a chance to redeem herself in her maiden U.S. Open final after a grueling 6-7(4), 7-6(3), 6-3 semifinal victory over Naomi Osaka inside Arthur Ashe Stadium on Thursday night.
The world No. 1 and reigning U.S. Open champion, Aryna Sabalenka, is now the only thing standing in the way of Anisimova and her first Grand Slam trophy.
In her five previous appearances in Flushing, the young American had never advanced beyond the third round.
On the heels of an incredibly low moment in a career that’s simply had too many, Anisimova has unearthed some stellar tennis.
It seemingly peaked a few days ago in Anisimova’s straight-sets triumph over world No. 2 Iga Swiatek on Wednesday, who was on the other side of the net in her Wimbledon loss on July 12.
But the way Anisimova recovered from dropping the first set tiebreak on Thursday night was in a league of its own.
So how did she do it?
“I don’t know, Naomi is playing amazing tennis,” said Anisimova, who blasted 50 winners in the victory. “She’s back where she belongs. I told her that I’m so proud of her after having a baby and playing at this level. It’s insane. She was really giving me a run for the final. I wasn’t sure I’d make it past the finish line. I tried to dig deep.”
With the win, Anisimova remains undefeated against Osaka in their three meetings.
The two hadn’t squared off since 2022 though, which was evident in Osaka’s strong start.
Up until Thursday, every single time Osaka had reached the quarterfinals of a major, she went on to win the title.
Anisimova put that streak to bed as Thursday night became Friday morning.
“Honestly, I don’t feel sad,” Osaka said after the match. “It’s really weird. Well, it’s not weird, because I just feel like I did the best that I could. Honestly, it’s kind of inspiring for me, because it makes me just want to train and try to get better, and hopefully, yeah, just give it my very best shot again and see what happens. But I think I can’t be mad or upset at myself.”
Committing 23 unforced turnovers to Osaka’s 10, Anisimova was a bit all over the place in the first set.
The No. 8 seed rallied from down 4-2 and 5-3 to force a tiebreaker.
Osaka quickly built a 6-1 lead, but Anisimova cut it to 6-4 before the Japanese-born player took the first set.
After getting broken in the ninth game of the second set to fall behind 5-4, Osaka threw her racket and put a towel over her head during the changeover as her frustrations bubbled.
A double-fault from Anisimova ensured the set was tied at five-all, but Osaka rallied from down 40-15 in the 11th game to hold.
In the second tiebreak, Anisimova dominated early to snag a quick 5-1 lead before forcing the deciding set.
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