Amanda Anisimova is into the Australian Open third round, continuing a promising start to the year for a player who was once the next big thing in American tennis, and still could be.
Anisimova, 20, ousted No. 22 seed and Olympic gold medalist Belinda Bencic of Switzerland 6-2, 7-5, her seventh consecutive match win to start 2022. She next plays defending champion Naomi Osaka for the first time.
“I’ve been wanting to play her for a while,” Anisimova said. “Our personalities are a little bit similar in terms of composure and trying to be the quiet players on tour.”
AUSTRALIAN OPEN DRAWS: Men | Women
Anisimova had not been heard from much since her run to the 2019 French Open semifinals at age 17, becoming the youngest major semifinalist in 12 years.
Her father and former longtime coach died unexpectedly one week before the 2019 U.S. Open.
She returned for the 2020 Australian Open and lost in the first round. Though she made the third round of the French Open and U.S. Open during the pandemic, she tested positive for the coronavirus shortly before last year’s Australian Open and missed the tournament while isolating in Abu Dhabi.
She then rolled an ankle later that winter and ended up playing just one match in a four-month stretch. She went nearly eight months between winning multiple matches in a tournament and finished 2021 ranked 78th, down 48 spots from 2020.
“I’ve had a lot of good matches against top players last year, so I feel like everyone knows that I can play very good tennis, but it was just not as consistent as I hoped for,” she said.
Anisimova started working with respected Australian coach Darren Cahill going into this season. It’s looking shrewd. She won an Australian Open lead-in tournament in Melbourne, her second WTA title and first since April 2019.
Now she gets Osaka, a 6-0, 6-4 winner over American Madison Brengle on Wednesday.
“It’s very interesting to play against the younger players because I remember being a younger player myself,” the 24-year-old Osaka said, “and feeling like I have nothing to lose.”
Elsewhere, top seed Ash Barty followed her 6-0, 6-1 win in the first round with a 6-1, 6-1 drubbing of 142nd-ranked Italian Lucia Bronzetti. The Australian gets No. 30 Camila Giorgi of Italy in the third round.
Rafael Nadal, the No. 6 seed and lone past men’s champion in the field, swept 126th-ranked German Yannick Hanfmann 6-2, 6-3, 6-4. Nadal gets No. 28 seed Karen Khachanov of Russia next.
No. 10 Hubert Hurkacz of Poland became the first top-10 seed to lose in either draw, eliminated by veteran Frenchman Adrian Mannarino 6-4, 6-2, 6-3.
Australian Open Day 4 Schedule
Thursday’s highlight matches to close out the second round include No. 2 seed Daniil Medvedev of Russia facing Australian crowd favorite Nick Kyrgios. Medvedev, the 2021 U.S. Open champion, became the clear tournament favorite after top-ranked Novak Djokovic was deported.
Elsewhere, the highest-ranked American man, No. 20 seed Taylor Fritz, faces countryman Frances Tiafoe for a spot in round three.
The women’s match du jour is a sentimental one: Aussie Sam Stosur, the 2011 U.S. Open winner, is playing her final singles tournament. The 37-year-old is an underdog against No. 10 seed Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova of Russia but will have tremendous support inside Rod Laver Arena.
Nos. 2 and 3 seeds Aryna Sabalenka and Garbiñe Muguruza are also in action.
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Australian Open: Amanda Anisimova ousts Olympic gold medalist; Naomi Osaka next originally appeared on NBCSports.com