Anisimova takes down champion Osaka and challenges favorite Barty at Australian Open

American tennis player Amanda Anisimova, 20, won this Friday (21) her second impact victory at the 2022 Australian Open. For the third round, she defeated Japanese Naomi Osaka, 24, former world number 1 and current champion of the tournament, for 2 sets to 1 (4/6, 6/3 and 7/6 [10-5]).

In a balanced game, in which both tried to prevail in power, Anisimova saved two match-points when she served at 4-5 in the third set. In the partial tiebreaker, she served very well and prevailed over Osaka, who seemed to have sensed the wasted chances earlier.

The American, who hit 46 winning balls, prevented a long-awaited duel between the Japanese and the current number 1, Australian Ashleigh Barty, 25, in the round of 16.

Anisimova was already coming off a triumph over Olympic champion Belinda Bencic, 24, in the previous phase, and now she will have an even more difficult mission: to surprise the favorite in her country. So far, Barty has asserted his position as leader of the rankings and has lost just eight games in his first three games. The duel between them will be on Sunday (23), with no set time yet.

Daughter of Russian immigrants and one of the main talents revealed by tennis in the United States in recent years, Anisimova was a semifinalist at Roland Garros in 2019, at 17. She stopped precisely in Barty, who would then win his first Grand Slam title.

The American came to occupy the 21st position in the ranking, but went through a series of difficulties in the sequence. In August 2019, the athlete’s father and coach, Konstantin Anisimov, died suddenly of a heart attack. The pandemic prevented her from resuming her career the way she wanted in 2020, and last year her results were also not consistent.

In early 2022, Anisimova began a job – initially temporary – with renowned Australian coach Darren Cahill. The results so far are great. The tennis player, 60th in the ranking, won her second title on the circuit in Melbourne before the Grand Slam and already has eight consecutive victories.

Osaka, who returned to the circuit this beginning of the year after dealing with mental health problems in 2021 and being out since the last US Open, had his trajectory in Australia interrupted early and will lose many points, because he defended the title.

The winner of four Slams in her career, two of them in Melbourne, will be out of the top 80 in the rankings for the first time since 2016. She, who was in 14th place, will plummet about 70 places.

Despite the fall, Osaka was shown to be in a better frame of mind in the post-game interview. “I fought for every point. I can’t be sad about it. I’m not God. I can’t win every match. I have to take that into account and know that it would be good to win the tournament, but this is very special,” he said. .

“I feel like I’ve grown a lot in this match. The last one I played in New York, I think I had a completely different attitude, so I’m very happy. Of course I lost, but I’m happy with the way it went,” he added.

Anisimova, for her part, said she found Osaka’s openness to talking about mental health and her personal struggles inspiring. “I think we’re in a completely different time and this generation is becoming more honest about these kinds of things. […] I’ve had a rough few years and I don’t mind posting things on social media and spreading awareness to other people who are going through hard things.”