Wimbledon: Amanda Anisimova beats Coco Gauff

Amanda Anisimova
Mal Taam/MALTphoto

Amanda Anisimova is still becoming more mature, on the court and off. Over the past few months, she began to think more clearly about her oncourt tactics. Both her forehand and her backhand are titanic, and while she isn’t incredibly fast, she can be pretty quick when chasing would-be winners. She stares at the ball and then she can decide to rally or leap on the lines. 

On Saturday, she beat Coco Gauff 6-7(4), 6-2, 6-1 to reach the fourth round. She was extremely excited.

“It was a super tough match today, but it was extremely special to get to play on Centre Court for the first time in my life,” Anisimova said. “It’s super exciting how many Americans are doing well and have advanced here so far. I think we have a ton of strong players. Even today playing against Coco, I think that’s extremely exciting and good for our country to play on Centre, both being American.”

She is the only American woman left in the tournament at Wimbledon. Jessica Pegula lost today, and a bunch of players lost in the first week. So now it is up to No. 25 Anisimova, to go further. 

“At the end of the day it’s about the consistency and how well you do at each tournament. It’s still something that I’m working on,” she said. “Just getting far into tournaments – I had a couple quarterfinals this year where I think I could have gone past it. I just try to take the experience. I’m just here for the journey so I’m building off of that.” 

It was a windy day, and the 18-year-old Gauff, who reached the final at Roland Garros, fell out in the last two sets. She could have been much more patient, but she just could not get it together. However, she said that Anisimova can go almost all the way. Oh, really? 

“I think she has got a good shot of pretty much going all the way to the final. If she plays like she did those last two sets against me, I think that’s some top-notch tennis right there,” Gauff said.

Anisimova will face the Frenchwoman Harmony Tan on Monday, who upset Serena Williams in the first round.

Swiatek’s streak ends

There was a wild upset when the No. 1 Iga Swiatek’s 37-match win streak finally ended. The 32-year-old veteran Alizé Cornet was very driven and she snapped winners all over the place. She can hit it short and soft with her second serves, but she is still very quick and she can blast her forehand. However, Cornet had not reached the quarters at Wimbledon. Earlier this year, at the Australian Open, she upset Simona Halep before Danielle Collins took her down in the quarters. 

But this time, Swiatek finally grew cold, and she lost, 6-4, 6-2 to Cornet. But, when she gets back on the hard courts, the Pole should be ready to punch it again.

Outside of Anisimova and Cornet, there are two players who are lurking, the former two-time champion Simona Halep, and the current No. 5, Paula Badosa. Halep won the 2019 Wimbledon, stunning  Serena in the final. Currently, she looks pretty good, but to get there, she has to hit it even harder. Last week, Anisimova punched Halep in Germany on the grass. The Romanian is always very steady, but she has to attack the net.

Badosa has had a strong year. But, she has yet to reach the semis at the Slams. The Spaniard picked it up last year, and she can be self-consistent, but once again, on grass, if she wants to go even further, she has to try and bang it down. Kick it, if you can.