WHAT HAPPENED: In-form Amanda Anisimova has continued her march at the US Open, beating Maya Joint in a battle of beautiful ballstriking to arrive in the third round.
Anisimova was pushed hard but eventually subdued the Australian teenager, completing a 7-6(2) 6-2 win under lights in Louis Armstrong Stadium.
The American equals her best result at her home Slam, where she will next play Romania’s Jaqueline Cristian.
Anisimova navigated extremely breezy conditions inside the stadium, as well as a game opponent, who this time last year was a 135th-ranked qualifier but is now one of the world’s highest-ranked teenagers, on the brink of the Top 40 after two WTA titles this season.
“It was super tough in the beginning. Nobody told me it was going to be that windy,” Anisimova said on court.
“She’s been doing great and she’s so young—I’m sure she has a really bright future ahead of her. I knew it was going to be a really tough match.”
Joint demonstrated that promise when she nabbed the first break of the match and forged ahead 5-3.
But it was at this point Anisimova lifted. She held serve, then broke Join to love when the Aussie served for the set, bookending the game with forehand winners. She then held in the next game to love, meaning she had won 12 of the past 13 points.
Joint steadied to send the set to a tiebreak, but from 2-2 Anisimova surged again, winning five straight points—the last two with unreturnable serves.
In the early stages of the second set, Anisimova’s forehand was wayward, yet her backhand got her out of trouble as Joint held a break point in the second game.
As the set progressed the two women engaged in some magnificent exchanges, with Anisimova’s supremely clean, aggressive strikes forcing Joint to show off her outstanding movement and flexibility.
In the fifth game, Anisimova found her forehand again, clubbing a winner crosscourt to break serve. She let out a huge roar as she took a 3-2 lead, and never looked back.
That moment formed part of a run of five straight games for the American, which concluded the contest in one hour and 16 minutes.
WHAT IT MEANS: For anybody concerned that Anisimova’s 6-0 6-0 loss in the Wimbledon final to Iga Swiatek would prove a lingering trauma, they needn’t have worried.
The 23-year-old has bounced back to win four of her next six matches and continues the rich vein of form she has sustained since June.
Following a fourth-round finish at Roland Garros, Anisimova has won 16 of her past 21 matches to embed herself in the Top 10.
“It hasn’t really changed much for me—if anything it makes it more exciting,” she said of her higher standing in the game. “Being a Top 10 seed for the first time at the US Open is really special.”
Not only is she striking her famed backhand as sweetly as ever, her forehand appears an increasingly potent weapon while her movement and serve continue to improve.
Joint plays aggressively and is an athletic mover, but that did stop Anisimova sending 23 winners past her, while the Aussie could manage just five.
MATCH POINT: Anisimova moves into the third round of the US Open for just the second time in her career, and the first time in five years.
“This is my favorite place to play, so I’m just really enjoying it,” she said.
