In front of a packed pro-American Arthur Ashe Stadium crowd, Amanda Anisimova roared into the US Open final with marathon win over Naomi Osaka, where the 8th seed will face the defending champion, Aryna Sabalenka, for a shot at her first Grand Slam title on Saturday.
It means the world. I’m trying to process that right now. It’s just absolutely a dream come true. It has been a dream of mine, like forever, to be in the US Open final, and obviously the hope is to be the champion. But I’m in the final now, and I’ll try to get ready. Amanda Anisimova
It was a statement performance delivered on Thursday night under the lights by the 24-year old, rallying from a set down to get past the former World No 1, Osaka, who has twice won the title here in New York, 6-7(4) 7-6(3) 6-3, to reach her first US Open final.
Anisimova overcame a slow start and a one-set deficit to defeat the 4-time Grand Slam champion after 2 hours and 56 minutes of intense battling to secure her 2nd straight Major final appearance of the year.
At one point, Osaka, the No 23 seed, was 4 points from punching her ticket into Saturday’s final, while Anisimova let 2 match points slip away in a game in which she stiff-armed 2 break points.
There was a little separating the two, as first one and then the other looked likely to ride out the contest as the winner.
“Oh my god, I don’t know,’’ said Anisimova, asked on court afterwards how she had turned the match around.“Naomi is playing amazing tennis, and she is back where she belongs. And I told her I’m so proud of her after having a baby, and playing at this level. It’s insane.’’
Osaka served for the match at 6-5 in the second set, but Anisimova held her nerve and stayed positive as she pounded her powerful groundstrokes to, somehow, escape.
“She was really giving me a run for the final,’’ said Anisimova, after advancing to her home major final in a nearly 3-hour tussle. “I wasn’t sure I was going to make it to the finish line.
“I tried to dig deep, and it was a huge fight out there today. We were both playing some amazing tennis. [I thought] how are we making these shots? But we were, and we just kept going.”
Little separated Amanda Anisimova and Naomi Osaka in their semi-final but the American found an extra gear to pull through the deciding set in the very early hours on Friday morning
© Matthew Stockman/Getty Images
The first set was sensational, as Osaka embraced the big occasion in the prime-time glare, winning 11 of the first 13 points as Anisimova struggled to settle, but the American found her range in time to break her opponent when she served for the opening set.
It ended up in a tiebreak, which Osaka claimed, 7-4, mirroring the rest of the set that saw both big-hitters claiming a slight edge, only for nerves to pay a visit, and bring them back level.
It was 2/1 to Osaka in the breaker when Anisimova got really edgy, double-faulting and missing a forehand on her serve to give the Japanese a 4/1 lead, which was all the 27-year old needed to seize the advantage.
A delayed line call by the automated system disrupted play at a crucial moment – an out call appearing to come before the ball had landed – with Osaka at set point, but a replay showed the Japanese’s shot had landed out.
She refocused before letting out a big roar to take her next opportunity for the set.
The second is the one that will haunt Osaka, who had eliminated 3 higher seeds to reach the semi-finals but now struggled to carry the momentum forward in the next set, as they swapped breaks and dialled up the intensity with some ferocious hitting for 12 solid games.
With the match on her racket, it was Osaka who got tight, just as Anisimova became fearless, and, after the American took control in the second tiebreak to level, it became anyone’s match.
Osaka left the court to re-group, returning to dump a forehand into the net in the third set’s 4th game, handing Anisimova the critical break.
4-time Grand Slam champion Naomi Osaka edged the first set tiebreak and served for the match in the second, but was then outpaced by Amanda Anisimova in the third
© Sarah Stier/Getty Images
With the Japanese now looking to be in some physical discomfort, Anisimova surged ahead to 4-1, thanks to a forehand winner, although, at the finish line, the American wobbled, missing 2 match points.
Osaka had 2 chances to fight back, but Anisimova committed to full-blooded backhands, and got her reward on her 3rd match point to seal the deal.
“At the end, I’m just trying to fight my way through, and I was trying to enjoy the moment,’’ said Anisimova, who struck 50 winners to Osaka’s 32.
The now rather sparse crowd, ignoring the clock which had eclipsed midnight, was delirious that a home-grown New Jersey Girl was into the final.
“It means the world,’’ said Anisimova, after she had dropped to her knees and pounded on the famous Ashe hard court at nearly 1am. “I’m trying to process that right now. It’s just absolutely a dream come true.
“It has been a dream of mine, like forever, to be in the US Open final, and obviously the hope is to be the champion. But I’m in the final now, and I’ll try to get ready.’’
Anisimova’s run extends a remarkable streak for American women’s tennis, since there now has been at least one in the final of every major this season, with Madison Keys winning the Australian Open over Aryna Sabalenka, Coco Gauff defeating Sabalenka at Roland Garros, Iga Swiatek beating Anisimova at Wimbledon, and now Anisimova battling Sabalenka for the US Open crown.
It is the first time this has happened since 2002, when Jennifer Capriati and Serena and Venus Williams combined to reach every Grand Slam final.
Sabalenka rallied past 4th-seeded Jessica Pegula, 4-6 6-3 6-4, in the earlier semi-final, which was a rematch of last year’s final.
The Belarusian moved to within one win away from becoming the first woman to claim consecutive championships at Flushing Meadows since Serena Williams got 3 in a row from 2012 to 2014.
Naomi Osaka hugged Amanda Anisimova after losing the semi-final on Day 12 of the US Open at the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center in New York
© Charly Triballeua/AFP via Getty Images
At Wimbledon in July, Anisimova suffered both humiliation and disappointment as the runner-up to Swiatek, who beat her, 6-0 6-0 in the title match, but the American recovered from that well enough, and quickly enough, to get past the Pole in 2 sets in the US Open quarter-finals.
Atoning for her Wimbledon loss, Anisimova, who was born in New Jersey and grew up in Florida, now gets another shot at winning her first Grand Slam trophy in the 5th consecutive women’s final at a Grand Slam involving an American woman.
As for Osaka, ahead of this loss, she had been a combined 14-0 winner in major quarter-finals, semi-finals and finals over her career, while Anisimova is the first opponent to beat the Japanese this late in a Major.
“I mean, honestly I don’t feel sad,” Osaka said. “It’s really weird. Well, it’s not weird, because I just feel, like, I did the best that I could.
“Honestly, it’s, kind of, inspiring for me, because it makes me just want to train and try to get better, and hopefully, just give it my very best shot again, and see what happens. But I think I can’t be mad or upset at myself.”
Anisimova has a huge hurdle to clear when facing the defending champion, Sabalenka, in Saturday’s showdown for the US Open singles title.
They have played 9 times before, with Anisimova holding a convincing 6-3 advantage.
None of the American’s wins were bigger than her one in this summer’s Wimbledon semi-finals, when she eliminated Sabalenka, 6-4 4-6 6-4, to reach her first Grand Slam final.
They have also played 2 other matches in the Majors this year, with Sabalenka winning, 7-5 6-3, in the Last 16 at Roland Garros, and at the Australian Open in the same round, 6-3 6-2.
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