Amanda Anisimova: Once a teenage prodigy, now a Wimbledon finalist

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In May 2023, in an Instagram post announcing an indefinite break from tennis to take care of her mental wellbeing, Amanda Anisimova wrote: “It’s become unbearable being at tennis tournaments.” On Thursday, 797 days since that decision to step aside, she stood in front of the microphone for her post-match interview on the grandest stage of tennis, speaking about the feeling of reaching her first Grand Slam final: “To be in the final is just indescribable, honestly.”

From unbearable to indescribable. Those two words define the journey of the American, once regarded as one of the brightest prodigies. Her first Major final is a natural result of the talent she always had but the journey to get here has been anything but smooth. And it was mirrored in her stunning upset of World No. 1 Aryna Sabalenka in the semifinal, a see-saw battle that witnessed some incredible ball-striking from both power-hitters. Anisimova won 6-4, 4-6, 6-4 after 157 gruelling minutes in which she went toe-to-toe with the best player in the world currently.

In steamy conditions at SW19 that saw multiple breaks for fans being in discomfort in the stands, Anisimova and Sabalenka brought the heat on the court with their groundstrokes. Anisimova actually looked the better player for a set and a half, then Sabalenka came storming back while Anisimova seemed to suffer a mid-match slump. Sabalenka took the second set and broke the American youngster’s serve in the first game of the deciding set. But Anisimova sprang back to life after that, first reeling off three games in a row and then holding off a late challenge from her adversary.

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Break from tennis

Success came early for Anisimova. At 16, she beat Coco Gauff to win the junior US Open title. At 17, she reached her first Major semi-final at 2019 French Open, at that point the youngest player to reach a major semi since 2007, and she did so beating the then defending champion Simona Halep in the quarterfinals. But since then, she has seen a fair share of lows too. Just later that year, after her breakthrough run at Roland Garros, she had to pull out of her home Major after the death of her father, what she described as “the worst thing that ever happened to me.”

Then in 2023, came the big decision. “I’ve really been struggling with my mental health and burnout since the summer of 2022. It’s become unbearable being at tennis tournaments. At this point my priority is my mental well-being and taking a break for some time.”

She turned to art during her break, and sold her paintings for charity, went on trips with her friends – basically trying to live a life at her own pace, that wasn’t dictated by the hectic grind of the tennis tour. “It was just nice to take a break from the chaotic lifestyle of a tennis player and reset as a human,” Anisimova told WTA as she made her comeback to the tour in January 2024. “I think that break and having more than two weeks off for the first time in my life was just very refreshing. I gained a lot of energy back in myself and happiness. I slowed my life down and that’s something that I really needed.”

If slowing her life down helped her rediscover her love for the sport, speeding things up was crucial to beating Sabalenka. Always known as an attack-first player, Anisimova had to match her opponent’s intensity, with the match often producing moments when both players raised the decibel levels. The rallies were largely short, with both players looking to go big and go early in points, trying to hit as deep as they could. And in key moments, Anisimova’s backhand came to her rescue as she managed to find angles that frustrated Sabalenka repeatedly.

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According to Opta, Anisimova is only the second player in the Open Era to reach a Women’s Singles final at a Grand Slam after losing in qualifying at the previous year’s event. (The other was Bianca Andreescu at US Open 2019). “To be honest if you told me I would be in the final of Wimbledon, I would not believe you. Especially not this soon. It’s been a year’s turnaround. So many dream of competing on this court. This doesn’t feel real right now,” she’d say. She is one win away from the biggest title of her life, but in getting this far, Anisimova is a winner already.