US Open: Anisimova exacts sweet revenge on Swiatek to enter semis round

By Leobert Julian A. de la Peña

It was two months ago when Amanda Anisimova experienced the harsh reality of what it really meant to go up against a top-tier Grand Slam queen.

Inexperienced and held back by jitters, Anisimova conceded a 6-0, 6-0, loss to Iga Swiatek during this year’s Wimbledon women’s singles championship match, an ending that the American netter wished she could flip.

Fueled by the demoralizing loss, Anisimova entered peak form and completed the revenge tour on Swiatek during their US Open quarterfinal clash, 6-4, 6-3, on Sept. 4, 2025, at the Arthur Ashe Stadium in New York.

This time, Anisimova already knew the memo.

Anisimova had a contrasting start compared to her sloppy Wimbledon finale performance, breaking Swiatek early to gain ground and steal the momentum.

However, Swiatek answered back with a crucial break point to equalize the first set at 4-all, but the next sequence of events favored Anisimova after dominating the baseline rally exchanges, capped off by a service hold.

In just the opener, Anisimova already tallied 18 winners, a huge improvement from her Wimbledon stint, where she only ended up with 24 markers across two sets.

As soon as Anisimova found the perfect contact point in her forehand stroke, Swiatek struggled with her return game and was always on the back foot, switching from an offensive mindset to holding her backline with defensive top-spin flicks.

Swiatek tweaked strategies at the start of the second set by targeting Anisimova’s backhand side, followed by a drop shot, but that move was quickly countered when the young American took a page from Aryna Sabalenka’s playbook and leaned on her power to score several return aces.

The Polish ace had her moments in the match after putting the crowd on their feet with scintillating down-the-line winners midway through the second set.

However, Swiatek couldn’t sustain her scoring display and eventually folded to Anisimova’s power-packed groundstrokes.

Anisimova completed her revenge victory with 67 total points won, including four break points and 29 markers on return.

“I’ve been having the run of my life here,” said Anisimova during her postgame interview.

“The first day I got here, I was like, ok, let’s try and get through one round. This has been such a dream. To come back from Wimbledon like that is really special to me.”