Amanda Anisimova beats Iga Swiatek at US Open, calling it “The most meaningful victory”

Amanda Anisimova has produced the performance of her life to defeat world number two Iga Swiatek in straight sets at the US Open, avenging the most painful loss of her career.

Just 53 days earlier, Swiatek had demolished Anisimova 6-0 6-0 in the Wimbledon final, a humiliation the American admitted she had never before dared to relive. But on Tuesday night at Flushing Meadows, backed by a roaring home crowd, she turned that heartbreak into fuel, powering past the Pole 6-4 6-3 to reach her third Grand Slam semi-final.

“This is the most meaningful victory of my life,” the 24-year-old said afterwards. She revealed she had watched the Wimbledon defeat for the first time only the night before the match. “As painful as it was, I wanted to see what I could avoid or what went wrong. Then I had to watch some good highlights to take it out of my head.”

Anisimova, who took a break from tennis to protect her mental health after early-career struggles, said her new outlook had allowed her to bounce back faster than before. “Maybe a few years ago I wouldn’t have done as well as I have this time,” she explained. “I would have blamed myself more or carried the guilt for longer. But I wanted to show that with a positive mindset, you can have a positive outcome.”

That resilience was tested immediately. Swiatek broke in the opening game of both sets, threatening to replay Wimbledon. “When I wasn’t able to hold in that first game, I thought, OK, here we go,” Anisimova admitted. But instead of crumbling, she hit back, breaking the six-time major champion’s serve and wresting control of the rallies.

Her fearless ball-striking rattled Swiatek, who struggled to handle Anisimova’s backhand. The American struck 23 winners, dominating on return by claiming 12 of 17 points off her opponent’s second serve. At crucial moments she stepped inside the baseline, breaking at 5-4 in the first set and again late in the second to close out victory with remarkable composure.

For Swiatek, it was a jarring reversal from her triumph at Wimbledon. She left the court between sets and returned with renewed fire, but Anisimova’s calm and consistency denied her a route back.

The victory caps a fortnight of rediscovery for Anisimova, who entered the US Open with modest expectations after early exits in Montreal and Cincinnati. She admitted she played her first rounds in New York “with a little bit of fear” but shed that completely against the tournament’s second seed. “I told myself you can’t go into the match with any fear,” she said. “Today I came out with not an ounce of fear.”

Now she will face four-time Grand Slam champion Naomi Osaka in the semi-finals, after the Japanese star beat Karolina Muchova. Anisimova acknowledged she has surprised even herself with her progress. “At the end of the day, it’s just tennis,” she reflected. “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.”

For the Flushing Meadows crowd, her win was more than just a shock upset. It was the sight of a player confronting her worst nightmare, embracing the fear, and turning it into triumph