US Open women’s final: Anisimova vs Sabalenka

NEW YORK (AP):

It is impossible to look ahead to Amanda Anisimova’s US Open final against defending champion Aryna Sabalenka today without viewing it through the prism of what happened less than two months ago at the last Grand Slam tournament, Wimbledon.

Impossible for Anisimova. Impossible for Sabalenka. Impossible for anyone, really.

That’s because, for one thing, Anisimova made it to her first title match at any Grand Slam tournament by beating the No. 1-ranked Sabalenka in the semi-finals at the All England Club to improve to 6-3 in their head-to-head series. And because, of course, Anisimova’s major final debut ended with a loss — and not just any sort of loss, but a 6-0, 6-0 shut-out against Iga Swiatek.

The way Anisimova, a 24-year-old American who is the No. 8 seed at Flushing Meadows, managed to put that defeat behind her immediately and not just play well, but well enough to eliminate Swiatek, of all people, in the US Open quarterfinals, en route to making it to another final, is remarkable.

“It just shows that I have worked really hard, especially on my mental game and not giving up,” Anisimova said after coming back to defeat four-time major champion Naomi Osaka 6-7 (4), 7-6 (3), 6-3 in a semi-final that ended shortly before 1 a.m. on Friday. “Like today, I could have easily said, ‘Oh, she’s playing better than me, and I can’t really do anything.’”

Anisimova didn’t shy away from thinking about, or talking about, what happened at Wimbledon.

Rather than completely erase it, she even watched that final the night before her rematch against Swiatek in New York, “as painful as it was, just to see what I can avoid or what went wrong,” said Anisimova, who was born in New Jersey and grew up in Florida.

As Anisimova now pursues her first Grand Slam championship, Sabalenka will be seeking her fourth overall and second US Open trophy in a row. The last woman to win consecutive titles in New York was Serena Williams, who captured three straight in 2012-14.

Both of today’s finalists are equipped with some of the biggest groundstrokes in the game.

Sabalenka is a premier server; Anisimova’s among the best returners around.

After her semi-final win over 2024 US Open finalist Jessica Pegula on Thursday, Sabalenka was asked what sticks out from the loss to Anisimova in July.

“I have to trust myself, and I have to go after my shots. I felt like in that match at Wimby, I was doubting a lot of my decisions, and that was the main thing that was bringing a lot of unforced errors,” said Sabalenka, the runner-up to Madison Keys at the Australian Open in January and to Gauff at the French Open in June.

“I gave her a lot of opportunities, and of course, she played incredible tennis,” Sabalenka said about Anisimova, “but I feel like I had my opportunities. I didn’t use them.”