Lower than two months in the past, Amanda Anisimova didn’t win a single sport in opposition to Iga Swiatek in a traditionally lopsided Wimbledon remaining.
However on Wednesday afternoon, the American earned the final word redemption on her dwelling soil.
No. 8 Anisimova defeated No. 2 Swiatek, 6-4, 6-3, at Arthur Ashe Stadium in an hour and 36 minutes, pulling off a stunning upset to advance to the U.S. Open semifinals.
Anisimova is ready to face the winner of Wednesday night time’s quarterfinal match between Naomi Osaka and Karolina Muchova within the semis on Thursday.
“To come back from Wimbledon like that, it’s really special to me,” Anisimova mentioned.
Reminiscences of that 6-0, 6-0 defeat on July 13 dominated the dialogue main into Wednesday’s rematch, and Anisimova confronted rapid adversity once more at Ashe when Swiatek, a six-time Grand Slam champion, broke her serve within the opening sport of the primary set.
However Anisimova rebounded to interrupt Swiatek proper again within the second sport — a second she punctuated by exclaiming, “Yes!” — after which took the subsequent sport, too.
“Winning that first game kind of took some stress off my shoulders,” Anisimova mentioned.
Anisimova grew extra poised because the set progressed, whereas the sometimes exact Swiatek’s play stagnated. The primary set ended when Anisimova broke Swiatek’s serve once more, incomes an eruption from a crowd decidedly within the American’s favor.
“The beginning was pretty stressful, but once I got myself going, I was getting more and more comfortable, and obviously more confident, and able to put what happened in the past really in the past,” Anisimova mentioned.
Swiatek punched again within the second set, once more breaking Anisimova’s serve within the first sport earlier than profitable the second to go up, 2-0.
However Anisimova received the subsequent three video games and 6 of the ultimate seven, breaking Swiatek two extra occasions. She went up 5-3 when Swiatek dedicated a double fault on break level.
Anisimova then completed the match within the ninth sport with a clinching shot that caromed off of the online and landed in bounds, nicely in entrance of Swiatek’s attain.
Swiatek landed simply 30 of her 60 first serves, and Anisimova received 4 of 9 break factors.
“I think the serve is what made the difference,” Swiatek mentioned. “She was winning more points from her serve, and I struggled a bit to sometimes make the first serve in, and she returned the ball from the second serve.”
The victory continued a feel-good run on the Open for Anisimova, who was born in Freehold Township, N.J., and had not superior past the third spherical of her dwelling Slam earlier than this 12 months.
Anisimova went on an eight-month hiatus from Might 2023 to January 2024 to deal with her psychological well being and didn’t compete on the 2023 Open. In her return to the Open final 12 months, Anisimova suffered a first-round exit.
However Anisimova constructed momentum this summer time together with her first-ever journey to a Grand Slam remaining, regardless that it ended with the primary double bagel in a Wimbledon remaining since 1911.
“I was really able to bounce back from it really quickly. Maybe a few years ago, I wouldn’t have done the same as well as I have this time,” Anisimova mentioned.
“Today, I’m just really, really proud of myself. I feel like I really made a point to myself, and also maybe to other people, that if you really put a positive mindset out there or just try and work through things, then you can have a positive outcome.”
Anisimova mentioned she rewatched her Wimbledon loss on Tuesday night time and recognized that she was “slow as hell” to react that day.
Highlights of that disproportion defeat then aired on the TV fitness center whereas Anisimova warmed up for Wednesday’s match.
“I’m, like, OK, I know there was a lot of external stuff going on, and I could only imagine what everyone had been saying,” Anisimova mentioned. “I truly just tried to really block all of the external stuff out.”
The beginning of Friday’s match was listed as “not before 1 p.m.,” however it was delayed for hours as Felix Auger-Aliassime outlasted Alex de Minaur in a four-hour, 10-minute marathon match at Ashe.
Anisimova – who says she shouldn’t be a morning individual – wakened at 7 a.m. to prepare for the possibly early begin.
“You have to be ready for that at a Grand Slam,” Swiatek mentioned. “It’s not handy, particularly when the ‘not befores,’ they don’t make sense. It’s important to be able to play at 1 anyway, as a result of you’ve ‘not before 1.’
“But then you wait, because obviously how many times is a men’s match going to finish in like, one-and-a-half hours or something, right? That’s tennis. You have to adjust to that.”
Anisimova is the second American lady to succeed in the Open semis, becoming a member of No. 4 Jessica Pegula.
Pegual is scheduled to face No. 1 Aryna Sabalenka on Thursday night time.
“It still feels a bit surreal, for sure,” Anisimova mentioned. “It’s the farthest I’ve gone, by far, at the U.S. Open, and it’s extremely special. Today is definitely the most meaningful victory I’ve had in my life.”
Initially Revealed: September 3, 2025 at 5:59 PM EDT
