Brilliant Anisimova gains revenge on Swiatek

US Open 2025

Venue: Flushing Meadows, New York Dates: 24 August-7 September

Coverage: Live radio commentaries across 5 Live Sport and BBC Sounds, plus live text commentaries on the BBC Sport website & app

Amanda Anisimova says she rewatched her heavy Wimbledon final defeat by Iga Swiatek to inspire her to "the most meaningful victory of my life" over the second seed in the US Open quarter-finals.

Fifty-three days ago, Poland's Swiatek demolished Anisimova 6-0 6-0 to win the title in a one-sided showpiece at SW19.

But the American showed her true capabilities with a 6-4 6-3 victory in a high-quality match in New York.

Eighth seed Anisimova said she watched the final back for the first time the night before their Flushing Meadows match-up.

"I watched them [highlights] back, as painful as it was, just to see what I can avoid or what went wrong," she said.

"Then after I had to watch some good highlights to remove that from my brain!"

It was something Anisimova may not have done after previous tough losses.

But since taking a break from the sport to protect her mental health, Anisimova's attitude towards setbacks on the court has changed.

"I feel like I was able to bounce back from it [Wimbledon defeat] really quickly. Maybe a few years ago I wouldn't have done as well as I have this time," the 24-year-old said.

"I would have maybe blamed myself more or held on to the guilt for longer.

"I made a point to myself, and also maybe to other people, that if you really put a positive mindset out there then you can have a positive outcome."

Anisimova will face four-time major champion Naomi Osaka in the semi-finals, after she beat 11th seed Karolina Muchova.

Anisimova has surprised even herself with how quickly she moved on from her loss at the All England Club.

"Truly the most that I felt bad was for the people that had come to watch that day," she said.

"I know how much people pay for those tickets and are excited to see Wimbledon. I kind of had that guilt on my back, as opposed to winning my first Grand Slam final.

"On the court I was crying and maybe [for] 30 minutes afterwards, but then I got on the phone with someone and I kind of laughed it off.

"At the end of the day to me it was just tennis. I'm in a really good place in my life. I'm happy every single day, which I wasn't a couple of years ago."

Having gone out in the early stages of the hard-court tournaments in Montreal and Cincinnati, Anisimova said her early-round matches in New York were played with "a little bit of fear".

However, her confidence has grown across the fortnight - as shown in her brilliantly fearless ball-striking against Swiatek.

"I told myself: you can't go into the match with any fear," she said.

"Today, I really came out there with not an ounce of fear.

When Swiatek took her serve in the opening game, flashbacks of Wimbledon surfaced.

"When I wasn't able to hold in that first game, I was like OK, here we go," she said.

But this time around Anisimova did not waver - attacking the six-time major winner's serve to immediately break back.

Anisimova displayed superb skill on the backhand side and moved impressively throughout, hitting 23 winners as her big-hitting game flustered Swiatek.

She enjoyed success on the Pole's second serve - winning 12 of 17 points from it - and found the break at the crucial moment to take the opening set.

Swiatek left the court between sets and returned full of intensity, again breaking immediately but this time consolidating with a hold.

Anisimova could be forgiven for thinking back to Wimbledon but she kept her cool and rescued the break two games later.

Heavily backed by a home crowd, Anisimova broke in the eighth game to serve for victory - which she did in composed fashion to reach a third Grand Slam semi-final.