American Amanda Anisimova upsets Iga Swiatek to advance to US Open semis

NEW YORK — Less than two months ago, Amanda Anisimova failed to win a single game against Iga Swiatek in an ultra-lopsided Wimbledon final.

But on Wednesday afternoon, the American earned the ultimate redemption on her home soil.

No. 8 seed Anisimova defeated No. 2 seed Swiatek, 6-4, 6-3, at Arthur Ashe Stadium in an hour and 36 minutes, pulling off a shocking upset to advance to US Open semifinals.

Anisimova is set to face the winner of Wednesday night’s quarterfinal match between Naomi Osaka and Karolina Muchova in the semis on Thursday.

“To come back from Wimbledon like that, it’s really special to me,” Anisimova said.

Memories of that 6-0, 6-0 defeat on July 13 dominated the discussion leading into Wednesday’s rematch.

Anisimova faced immediate adversity again at Ashe when Swiatek, a six-time Grand Slam champion, broke her serve in the opening game of the first set.

But Anisimova rebounded to break Swiatek right back in the second game — a moment she punctuated by exclaiming, “Yes!” — and then took the next game, too.

Anisimova grew more comfortable and confident as the set progressed, while the typically precise Swiatek’s play stagnated.

Swiatek committed six unforced errors and finished with only seven winners in the opening set. The first set ended when Anisimova broke Swiatek’s serve again, earning an eruption from a crowd decidedly in favor of the American.

Swiatek punched back to begin the second set, again breaking Anisimova’s serve in the first game before winning the second to go up, 2-0.

But Anisimova won the next three games and six of the final seven, breaking Swiatek two more times. She went up 5-3 when Swiatek committed a double fault on break point.

Anisimova then finished the match in the ninth game with a final shot that caromed off of the net and landed in bounds, well in front of Swiatek’s reach.

Swiatek landed just 30 of her 60 first serves, and Anisimova won four of nine break points.

“I think the serve is what made the difference,” Swiatek said. “She was winning more points from her serve, and I struggled a bit to sometimes make the first serve in, and she returned the ball from the second serve. So I guess that made a difference.”

The start of Friday’s match was listed as “not before 1 p.m.,” but it was delayed for hours as Felix Auger-Aliassime outlasted Alex de Minaur in a four-hour, 10-minute marathon match at Ashe.

“You have to be ready for that at a Grand Slam,” Swiatek said. “It’s not convenient, especially when the ‘not befores,’ they don’t make sense. You have to be ready to play at 1 anyway, because you have ‘not before 1.’

“But then you wait, because obviously how many times is a men’s match going to finish in like, one and a half hours or something, right? That’s tennis. You have to adjust to that.”

The victory continued a feel-good run at the Open for Anisimova, who was born in Freehold Township, N.J., and had not advanced beyond the third round of her home Slam before this year.

Anisimova went on an eight-month hiatus from May 2023 to January 2024 to focus on her mental health and did not compete at the 2023 Open. In her return to the Open last year, Anisimova suffered a first-round exit.

But Anisimova built momentum this summer with her first-ever trip to a Grand Slam final, even though it ended with a disproportionate defeat by Swiatek.

Anisimova is the second American woman to reach the Open semis, joining No. 4 Jessica Pegula, who is scheduled to face No. 1 Aryna Sabalenka on Thursday night.