Amanda Anisimova and defending champion Aryna Sabalenka will contest the US Open final on Saturday evening. The victory would be a very special coup for both.
At the moment of her second final on the Grand Slam-Bühne knelt Amanda Anisimova on the blue hard court. A few times she hit the floor with her hand. Then the American tennis player leaned forward, put her forehead and paused. What a difference can make eight weeks.
Less than two months after the memorable 0: 6, 0: 6 and tears in the Wimbledon final, Anisimova can write the tennis fairy tale, which is so often stressed at at Sportschau.de on Saturday (10 p.m.). In her gripping semi -final victory over Naomi Osaka, she showed impressively that she recovered from Wimbledon.
With a success against defending champion and top favorite Aryna Sabalenka, she can register in tennis history as a US Open winner. In the Wimbledon semi-final, she defeated number one in the tennis world.
“I’m just excited”
“I am now in the final and try to prepare for it. I’m just excited – it’s something very special,” Anisimova, the number nine in the world from the US state of New Jersey, explained.
In the duel with Osaka, she had successfully fought the negative thoughts with which she had gone into the match. As a teenager, she once thrilled the tennis world. At the age of 17 she was in the semi -finals of the French Open, a little later her father and coach Konstantin died at the age of 52.
Mental problems and burnout
Anisimova returned to the tennis tour after a short break, but at some point she lost lust. In May 2023 she announced that she was fighting with mental problems and burnout. “It is unbearable for me to be with tennis tournaments”she wrote on Instagram and paused. And she inevitably had to deal with the Wimbledon final. On July 12th she had been overwhelmed against Iga Swiatek and was bitterly cried afterwards. Such a disgrace had previously only existed at the classic lawn in 1911.
The drama was not forgotten when Anisimova met again in the quarter -finals of the US Open of the Polish Swiadek. She returned to Swiatek in two sets. On your next Grand SlamFinale against Sabalenka feels better prepared. “I really worked on myself to be able to deal with such moments and to believe in me, even if it feels like there is nothing to believe.” She had already referred to the semi -finals as “surreal”.
Does Sabalenka refute the statistics?
For Aryna Sabalenka, too, a title win in New York could feel surreal. Although the number one of the tennis world is the defending champion-it was not enough for a Grand Slam success this year. The Belarusin could crown her season after two final defeats at the Australian Open and the French Open and the semi-finals in Wimbledon with a Grand Slam trophy. “I’ll go out and fight for every point as if it were the last in my life”, she announced.
Should she win the title again “I will probably be the happiest person on earth”said Sabalenka. However, the statistics of the past ten years speak against Sabalenka’s luck. Since 2015, only Naomi Osaka, two titles in Flushing Meadows to win (2018, 2020).