By Richard Pagliaro | Wednesday, September 3, 2025
Photo credit: Ishika Samant/Getty
NEW YORK—Aggressive baseliner Amanda Anisimova showed her superpower isn’t just brilliant ball striking.
It’s the power of perseverance.
Two months after Iga Swiatek dispensed a humbling double bagel in the Wimbledon final, Anisimova scored resounding redemption today.
Down a break in both sets, Anisimova swept Swiatek 6-4, 6-3 soaring into her maiden US Open semifinal.
“Playing here is so special I’ve been having the run of my life here,” a beaming Anisimova said. “This has been such a dream.
“To come back from Wimbledon like that it’s really special to me. I feel like I worked so hard to try to turn around from that. Today proves everything to me—I can do it—so this is really special.”
Talk about turning things around in the most dramatic fashion. Anisimova was tearful after absorbing that Wimbledon thrashing.
Today, the Freehold, New Jersey native was fiercely focused before a home crowd roaring in support of every winner she struck.
Anisimova drilled 23 winners—10 more than Swiatek—and broke serve four times coming from behind in both sets. Anisimova snapped Swiatek’s 11-match major winning streak and seldom looked stressed in a masterful 96-minute performance.
The No. 8-seeded Anisimova rocketed returns terrorizing Swiatek’s second serve surging into tomorrow night’s semifinals against either four-time Grand Slam champion Naomi Osaka or 11th-seeded Karolina Muchova. Anisimova has now reached semifinals or better at three of the four Grand Slams and aims to keep this redemption ride going into the final.
“From the get go I was trying to fire myself up,” Anisimova said. “She’s one of the toughest players I’ve ever played.
“I knew I was gonna have to dig really deep. It was such a tough match, it truly was a battle for me.”
This Wimbledon final rematch saw the pair trade breaks at the outset.
Once she found her range and rhythm, Anisimova was ripping drives down the line to stretch Swiatek.
Blasting a backhand return that skimmed Swiatek’s shoelaces, Anisimova earned double set point in the 10th game. Slamming a series of deep drives, Anisimova provoked a forehand error snatching the first set after 50 minutes.
The eighth-seeded Anisimova had break points in three different Swiatek serve games in the set.
The 2022 US Open champion left the court for a brief break, broke to start the second set and quickly went up 2-0.
That was a prelude to the power surge from across the net.
Stepping into the court, Anisimova belted a biting backhand crosscourt to break back and level 2-all. A superb forehand strike put the American ahead 3-2.
The net proved to be an Anisimova ally today.
Serving at 40-30, Anisimova rapped a running forehand that crashed into net and crawled over. She raised hands in apology earning a hard-fought hold for 4-3.
As coach Wim Fissette urged her from the box, Swiatek felt the stress from Anisimova’s ballistic blasts. A forehand skimmed the tape and handcuffed the Pole, earning Anisimova break point in the eighth game. When Swiatek slapped her third double fault, Anisimova broke for 5-3.
Seeing the finish line, Anisimova ripped through three serve points for triple match point then tightened up hitting a double fault off the tape for 40-30.
On her third match point, Anisimova banged a backhand into the tape that popped up in the air and fell over. Fortune favors the brave and Anisimova was brave and bold today eradicating the ghosts of SW19 with a fierce Flushing Meadows performance.
