Amanda Anisimova conjured the performance of her career on Wednesday afternoon in New York, banishing the ghosts of her Wimbledon nightmare with a sensational 6-4, 6-3 quarter-final victory against second-seeded Iga Swiatek in 1hr 36min. Less than eight weeks after she had been double-bagelled by the Polish star in the final at the All England Club, the 24-year-old American struck back with fearless ball-striking and nerveless resolve to reach her first US Open semi-final.
Swiatek, a six-time major champion and the 2022 US Open winner, looked intent on reprising the script when she broke immediately to extend her personal run to 13 consecutive games in the rivalry. But the eighth-seeded Anisimova struck back on her third break point, finishing with a thumping forehand overhead that drew a roar from the Arthur Ashe crowd and ensured this would bear no resemblance to the rout in July. “Honestly, when I wasn’t able to hold in that first game, I was really, like, OK, here we go,” Anisimova admitted afterwards. “Winning that first game kind of took some stress off my shoulders. Once I got it, I was easing into the match.”
The opening set was tightly wound and fiercely contested, Anisimova fending off break point with a crisp backhand down the line at 2-2 and Swiatek producing her best point of the match, a 17-shot exchange capped with a forehand overhead, to keep pace at 3-4.
With Swiatek serving at 4-5, Anisimova forced two set points and converted the second when her rival sprayed a forehand long. In 50 minutes she had pocketed the opener, winning 12 of 17 points on her opponent’s second serve with the kind of incendiary hitting and baseline aggression that have long been her trademarks.
Swiatek, whose summer haul already included titles at Wimbledon and Cincinnati, tried to reassert herself at the start of the second, breaking for 2-0 as the crowd stirred uneasily. Anisimova refused to retreat, holding firm from 15-30 and then lashing a forehand return winner to create double break point in the fourth game. A ballistic backhand sealed the break back and from there the American never let go of the initiative.
Swiatek’s usually impenetrable composure began to crack as her first-serve percentage dipped and the intensity of the duress mounted. Serving at 3-4 she faltered again, coughing up the decisive break with her third double fault of the set. Moments later Anisimova secured her place in the last four with a backhand winner that clipped the net cord and tumbled over.
“Today was definitely different than any other match I’ve played because of the circumstances,” said Anisimova, who was born in central New Jersey and grew up in Florida. “I really tried to prepare myself mentally over the last 24 hours, more than physically. I came out there with not an ounce of fear. I was constantly moving and trying to pump myself up, which is not something I usually do. I felt like I was really supporting myself, and that helped me play better.”
She also revealed she had revisited the trauma of Wimbledon the night before. “Nobody told me to, but I watched it back, as painful as it was, just to see what I can avoid or what went wrong,” she said. “Then I had to watch some good highlights to remove that from my brain. I think it was important for me to see what happened last night going into today’s match. I realised I was so slow in that final. But it happens, I’m human. Some people freeze sometimes.”
Anisimova and Iga Swiatek embrace at the net. Photograph: Cristóbal Herrera/EPA
Swiatek, candid in defeat, pointed to her serving struggles. “From the baseline I felt it was good, but the serve made the difference,” she said. “Amanda was winning more points from her serve, and I struggled to make first serves in. She returned the ball so well from my second serve. That made the difference.”
She stressed that Wimbledon hadn’t given her a false sense of security: “It didn’t matter to me. Everybody knows how Amanda can play. She didn’t play well at Wimbledon, but it’s not like she’s always going to make the same mistakes. Today everything was different.”
For Anisimova, who took a mental-health hiatus in 2023 and only last year clawed her way back into the top 50, the win was both cathartic and historic. Already a finalist at Wimbledon this summer and a semi-finalist at Roland Garros in 2019, she has now delivered her breakthrough on home soil. She is also the first American woman since Serena and Venus Williams in 2002 to reach the semi-finals on all three surfaces at grand slam events.
She crunched nearly twice as many winners (23) as unforced errors (12) and controlled the tempo throughout, rushing Swiatek with the depth of her groundstrokes and holding her nerve in the biggest moments. “Today is definitely the most meaningful victory I’ve had in my life,” she said. “It’s the farthest I’ve ever gone at the US Open and it feels surreal. I feel like I’ve proved to myself that I can really go head-to-head with the top players.”
On Thursday she will face either Naomi Osaka or Karolína Muchová for a place in the final. “Both are incredibly tough opponents,” she said. “Naomi has won four grand slams and she looks like she’s really found her groove. Karolina is so crafty and I love watching her play. Either way it will be really difficult, but I’m looking forward to it.”
As will the Ashe stadium crowd that will firmly be in her corner. Fifty-three days after her Wimbledon heartbreak, she has given New York a comeback story to savour.
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