Amanda Anisimova’s breakthrough summer in New York hit another level Thursday night, with the 23-year-old American storming out of the scene, beating Naomi Osaka 6-7 (5), 7-6 (3), 6-3 and booking her spot in the U.S. Open final at Arthur Ashe Stadium.
Entering her second professional grand slam final, Anisimova will face defending champion Aryna Sabalenka at Arthur Ashe Stadium on Saturday.
“It’s a very tough game,” Anisimova said after a 2:56 victory in which she defeated 50 Osaka-based champions.
The match ended after the game, but Anisimova’s energy never wavered as she remained unbeaten against the four-time Grand Slam title and improved to 12-1 in her last 13 Grand Slam games.
“Most of the time, I think it’s going to slip away from me and I’m not going to the finals,” she told reporters. “At some point, I’m trying to accept that hard. Yes, late in the second set, I’m trying to remind myself of what and the chance there are.”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d1ileBGPreg
Osaka plays the first major semifinal since 2021, and is the second set win, but Anisimova has other ideas. The U.S.-owned service forced a circuit breaker and then soared to a 4-0 lead before claiming the situation.
From there, she ruled the calves problem in Osaka early in the third period.
“Steping on the court, I feel like I’m not playing tennis because I’m nervous and I let the pressure give me a little bit,” Anisimova admits. “But then I tried to dig deeper into my own game. I felt like I was able to find it more and more throughout the game, and yes, most importantly, I was fighting all the time.”
The loss marked Osaka’s first defeat in the semi-finals. She won all four majors in at least the quarterfinals before this year’s U.S. Open.
The 26-year-old was kind in failure and found positive results in her run, with her first major being played under new coach Tomasz Wiktorowski.
“I don’t feel bad to be honest,” she said. “It’s really weird. Well, it’s not surprising because I just feel like I’ve tried my best. Honestly, it’s inspiring for me because it makes me just want to train and try to get better and hopefully give it my best shot again and see what happens, but I don’t think I can’t be angry or angry.”
Anisimova will play again on Saturday, facing the Aryna Sabalenka championship. Earlier in the evening, the Belarusian defeated Jessica Pegula in last year’s Flushing women’s singles final.
Anisimova beat Sabalenka in the Wimbledon semifinal in July and had a lifetime advantage of 6-3.
“This is the number one player in the world, she plays tennis,” she said. “It’s going to be a very tough game and a fight. Yes, I’m so excited. Every time we’ve played it, it’s great.”
