Anisimova battles past Noskova to return to Wimbledon quarterfinals
With a possible Top 10 debut in her sights, surging Amanda Anisimova battled her way back into the Wimbledon quarterfinals.
Wimbledon: Scores | Order of play | Draws
In a gripping fourth-round encounter under the roof of No. 1 Court on Sunday evening, No. 13 seed Anisimova of the United States fought past No. 30 seed Linda Noskova of the Czech Republic 6-2, 5-7, 6-4.
Anisimova needed 2 hours and 2 minutes to prevail. The American stormed back from a break down at 3-1 in the third set, outlasting Noskova in a power-hitting showdown.
"I didn't remember what the score was," Anisimova said after the match. "Someone told me, 'You were 1-3 down.' I was like, 'I was?'" she said with a smile.
"I just kept telling myself to, first, keep believing in myself. Second off, just to bring my level up because I feel like I was playing a bit tentative there. ... I knew I had to step it up if I wanted to give myself a chance there in the third."
The 23-year-old Anisimova is into her third career Grand Slam quarterfinal, and her second at Wimbledon. She is one win away from matching her career-best Grand Slam result, when she made the 2019 Roland Garros semifinals as a 17-year-old before losing to eventual champion Ashleigh Barty.
Anisimova will next face World No. 50 Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova with a Wimbledon semifinal spot on the line. Anisimova has won all three of their previous meetings, including two wins last year.
Breakthrough year: Anisimova made the Wimbledon quarterfinals in 2022 but had not played the main draw in London since then. She missed the 2023 event during a hiatus from tour, then fell in the final round of qualifying last year.
Right after that Wimbledon qualifying loss last year, Anisimova quickly began checking off new milestones, and her last 12 months have been the best of her professional career.
Anisimova made her first WTA 1000 final at Toronto last August, and she bettered that earlier this year by winning her first WTA 1000 title at Doha in February. The Doha title pushed her into the Top 20 for the first time in her career.
Contesting Wimbledon at a career-high PIF WTA Ranking of World No. 12, Anisimova could potentially crack the Top 10 after the event, depending upon the remaining tournament results. Either way, it is a huge rise from her position of No.189 just 12 months ago.
"I think a lot of things have changed for myself," Anisimova said. "My work ethic and I feel like my professionalism has took a whole 360. ... Everything is centered around my tennis and how I can prepare the best that I can and recover from my matches.
"I think ever since I took my break, I just found this new perspective and this newfound sense of fighting for everything and accepting the challenges that come and embracing them. I think maybe I didn't do it quite like I do it now."
Growing on grass: Anisimova notched her 10th grass-court match-win of the year by beating Noskova on Sunday. The American has not lost before the quarterfinals on the surface this season, making the Queen's Club final and reaching the Berlin quarterfinals.
But Anisimova needed all of her grit to hold off 20-year-old Noskova. Anisimova completely dominated the first set, but Noskova took the early lead in the second set, breaking for 2-1 after coming out on top in a forehand-to-forehand rally.
Noskova failed to convert a set point at 5-4 and dropped serve, but the big-hitting Czech struck right back with a love break for 6-5. With her second opportunity, Noskova slammed an ace to convert her second set point.
Another love break caused Anisimova to fall behind 3-1 in the decider, as upset artist Noskova neared her 15th career Top 20 win. However, three forehand errors by Noskova at 3-2 gave Anisimova a lifeline, and the American took advantage, reaching 3-3 with a deft passing winner.
With the momentum back in her favor, Anisimova found key aces to keep herself in front through 5-4, where she reached double match point on Noskova's serve. The American's backhand was her more reliable wing on the day, and she hit her 10th winner from that side to close out a tough victory.
