Amanda Anisimova announced herself as not just the future of women’s tennis but the present as well by knocking out defending champion Simona Halep in the quarter-finals of the French Open.
The 17-year-old American was the first player born in the 2000s to reach the last eight at a slam and she overcame her nerves to hit Halep off the court in a stunning 6-2 6-4 victory.
“I don’t think it will sink in, at least not for today,” she said. “It’s crazy. I really can’t believe the result today. And getting the opportunity to play against Simona, that’s amazing, but how it ended is even crazier to me.”
Halep’s defeat means there is guaranteed to be a first-time slam champion come Saturday, with Britain’s Johanna Konta the only one of the remaining quartet who had ever reached a singles semi-final before.
If Anisimova can keep playing like this, there is no reason it cannot be her. She is the youngest semi-finalist at Roland Garros since Nicole Vaidisova in 2006 and is yet to drop a set.
Should she win the title, she would be the youngest slam champion since Maria Sharapova at Wimbledon in 2004.
It would be fitting if Anisimova, who will take on eighth seed Ashleigh Barty in the last four, emulated Sharapova given the similarities in their background and the fact she grew up idolising the Florida-based Russian.
Anisimova also hails from Russian parentage, although her mother and father emigrated to America before she was born, ironically because of the tennis potential of her older sister.
The teenager, who could still be playing in the juniors and admits she misses the friendliness of that circuit, made her slam breakthrough in Australia in January by reaching the fourth round before losing to Petra Kvitova.
“When I was playing in Australia, I was thinking about winning it,” she said. “It seems like such a hard thing to do. I didn’t really think that I could.
“Even getting past Petra, she just killed me in that match. In this tournament, I feel a lot more confident and I’m feeling my game a bit better than I did there.”
A prodigious ball-striker – particularly off her backhand side – and a fine mover, the 51st-ranked American raced through the first set and was 4-1 up in the second before she even seemed to register the magnitude of the occasion.
Anisimova looked increasingly agonised with every miss as Halep fought back to draw level but it was the 2018 champion who crumbled at the end.
Halep began the tournament as the title favourite and that only strengthened as her rivals tumbled out but ultimately she had no answer to Anisimova.
“I knew that she’s going to play very well, but she played great today,” said the Romanian. “All credit to her. I feel sad and I’m a little bit upset because I couldn’t make my game. I couldn’t move normally.
“I think that I have done everything I could today and this tournament. I’m happy with the result. It’s not bad at all to make quarter-finals at a grand slam. Coming as a defending champion, the pressure was on. But I think I had good matches, and I’m leaving this tournament with positive thoughts.”
Australian Barty is more thought of as a threat on faster surfaces but she has been in superb form this season and has carried that onto the clay, with her latest victory a 6-3 7-5 success against 14th seed Madison Keys.
“It’s incredible,” said the 23-year-old. “We have approached this clay-court season a little bit differently to others. I have really enjoyed it, embraced it, been playing some pretty good tennis.
“Ultimately I feel like when I’m able to play my game style and my kind of tennis, I can match it with everyone regardless what surface it’s on.”
Both quarter-finals had been scheduled for Wednesday but were washed out, meaning the semi-finals were also delayed and now must be played on the same day as the men’s contests.
Ticketing constraints and another poor forecast for Friday has resulted in organisers putting both men’s matches on Court Philippe Chatrier while one women’s match will be played on Suzanne Lenglen and one on Simonne Mathieu.
Barty was not too put out, though, saying: “Obviously we would love to play on Chatrier. For me, personally, I’m excited to be in a semi-final. It doesn’t really matter which court I play on.”
The WTA said it was “extremely disappointed” by the scheduling, which CEO and chairman Steve Simon called “unfair and inappropriate” in a statement.
Simon said: “There’s no doubt that scheduling has been challenged by weather conditions and the WTA understands the scheduling issues presented at Roland Garros.
“We are, however, extremely disappointed by the scheduling of both women’s semi-finals on outside courts. This decision is unfair and inappropriate.
“The four women who have played so well and made it this far have earned their right to play on the biggest stage. We believe other solutions were possible which would have been to the benefit of fans as well as all players.”
