
Who would have known that the American Amanda Anisimova finally won a big title, winning a WTA 1000 Qatar TotalEnergies Open. She crushed the ball in the final, beating the veteran Jelena Ostapenko, 6-4, 6-3. That was huge, as over the past few years, she looked terrific, and then, she started to hit some wild errors. But she turned it on last week, hitting it deep and with more variety. She also beat Paula Badosa and Ekaterina Alexandrova, among others.
“It’s been such an incredible week here. I think every match has been very tough,” Anisimova said. “I’m just super happy with my performances and my level here, and to be able to get my first 1000 title is really special to me. It was actually quite stressful, especially with the rain, at 3-3. I was trying to stay focused. There’s not much that either of us could do with the conditions. But I think that game was super important, and I’m happy that it went my way because, as you said, it was a very challenging moment in the match.”
Yes, she was, as last year, in the first seven months, she was out of it, mentally. She was frustrated and ticked off, too. But she decided to be more intelligent and patient. She is a gigantic hitter, but now she is more brilliant, on the court and off. Now she is ranked No. 18 and ready to go. Whether she can reach in the top 10 is still up and the air, but currently she is super confident. Both her forehand and her backhand are strong, and her return is aggressive.
Believe it or not, 12 months ago, she was ranked No. 213, and she was very low, but she kept trying , and in the summer at Toronto, she reached the final. She lost against Jessica Pegula, but she looked pretty darn good.
Really though, last year, the 23-year-old lost a number of matches, like at Wimbledon, when she couldn’t reach the first round at the qualifying. In 2023, in May, she stopped, and she didn’t play on the court when she was ready to try it again in 2024 January. It took her a long time to revive, but she is right there now.
“I think that I’ve been able to really execute well from my backhand side,” Anisimova said. “But also I’ve been working a lot on my forehand, which I think that I’ve also had a lot of winners on. I think I’m really trying to develop my game as a whole, try to come into the net more, and use my serve to my advantage. I think my whole game is actually coming together.”
It has been going on for year in Delray Beach Open in Florida during February, but this time, the American men couldn’t win it again, and this time, the Serbian Miomir Kecmanovic won it, beating Alejandro Davidovich Fokina 3-6, 6-1, 7-5 . That was so close, but he stood tall.
“It feels unbelievable to win after losing two finals before and then down 5-2, match points. It was an amazing feeling and I’m so proud of myself,” said Kecmanovic.
“It’s an unbelievable week. I’ve worked so hard, I’ve done everything I could right. It didn’t happen for a long time, but I kept believing and I’m so happy to finally win another title.”