Amanda Anisimova fought mental problems two years ago. She took a long break and is now in the Wimbledon final against the Polish Iga Swiatek on Saturday (time still open, live ticker at Sportschau.de).
Amanda Anisimova is only 23 years old. But if you look at your six-year career in a professional tennis, you can see many successes, early successes, but also heavy setbacks and always the fight back to the top.
For the first time in Grand Slam final
Just a year ago, the American failed at Wimbledon as a world rankings 191. in qualification. On Saturday, the American is in the classic lawn final and plays for her first Grand Slam title.
“It is a super special turn for me when I think about how I lost here in the qualification last year, which had broken my heart a bit” “she recalled the defeat against the German Eva Lys.
Early death of the father
In 2018, when she was just 17 years old, she stood in the semi -finals of the French Open and was celebrated as a tennis star and coming star. Then suddenly her father Konstantin died of a heart attack at the age of 52, shortly before her 18th birthday.
The parents emigrated from Russia before their birth. They wanted to give their two girls a better life. Amanda Anisimova threw the death of the father off the track. She held out for a few more years before she suffered a burnout in May 2023 and took a seven-month break and the tennis tour turned her back. In the world rankings, she crashed from 23 to 359.
Never gave up the dream
Over this difficult time two years ago, she also spoke in Wimbledon. “When I took my break, a lot of people told me that I would never make it back to the top when I was out of the game for so long”, “ said Anisimova. “It was difficult to deal with it because I wanted to come back to win a Grand Slam one day.”
To switch off, she now paints, likes to visit museums. Before her break, she had no other hobbies than hanging around with family and friends, she reported in London.
Change nutrition and training
After her sporting return to the professional tour in early 2024, Anisimova was always plagued by symptoms on the hip and in the back, only slowly she worked up again. In February she celebrated her greatest title win at the Masters 1000 tournament in Doha, but quickly returned the pain.
Only since she worked with a physiotherapist, converted her diet and training methods, has it been steadily going uphill. As twelfth of the world rankings, she went to the tournament, at least eight will be to Wimbledon and will be in the top ten for the first time.
The blows, technology, the feeling for the balls brings them. Her two -handed backhand, who wears the handwriting of the trainer Nick Bollettieri, who died in 2022,, grinding from Maria Sharapowa and Andre Agassi, is one of the best in the women’s tour.