Amanda Anisimova experienced the worst possible result in her first Grand Slam final.
She will get another chance in the next major championship match.
The eighth-seeded New Jersey native rallied to beat No. 23 Naomi Osaka of Japan 6-7 (4), 7-6 (3), 6-3 in a U.S. Open semifinal that ended early Friday morning in New York.
Anisimova, who lost 6-0, 6-0 to Poland’s Iga Swiatek in the Wimbledon final this summer, heads to her first U.S. Open final to oppose the defending champion, Aryna Sabalenka. The top-seeded Belarusian overtook fourth-seeded Jessica Pegula 4-6, 6-3, 6-4 on Thursday.
Anisimova prevailed in 2 hours, 56 minutes, despite Osaka logging far more aces (15-7) and far fewer double faults (6-1 for Anisimova).
Asked how she bounced back from losing the first-set tiebreaker, the 24-year-old American said, “I don’t know. Naomi is playing amazing tennis. She’s back where she belongs. I told her I’m so proud of her after having a baby and playing at this level. I wasn’t sure I would make it past the finish line but I tried to dig deep. It was a huge fight out there.”
Anisimova will look to build on a 6-3 career edge in head-to-head meetings with Sabalenka. Their most recent matchup came in the Wimbledon semifinals in July, when Anisimova won 6-4, 4-6, 6-4.
Looking ahead to the final, Anisimova said, “It means the world. I am trying to process that right now. It’s a dream come true. This has been a dream of mine and obviously the hope is to be the champion.”
Osaka was in her first major semifinal since 2021, having returned to the tour after sitting out 2023 while giving birth. In each of the four previous times she got to a Grand Slam quarterfinal, she went on to win the championship.
Pegula made her opponent sweat a little more this time, but the result was the same — a Sabalenka win. Sabalenka defeated Pegula 7-5, 7-5 in last year’s U.S. Open final.
Pegula certainly made Sabalenka work on Thursday, breaking the world’s top-ranked player twice after falling behind 4-2 to take the first set. Pegula’s first service game proved to be her undoing in the other two sets.
Sabalenka broke the 31-year-old American on Pegula’s first service game in the second and held serve the rest of the way. She did it again in the third set, but not before Pegula forced four break points in the set and then three deuces in the deciding game.
“(Pegula) played incredible tennis as always, and I had to work really hard to get this win,” Sabalenka said. “She’s such a great player, great fighter, it’s always a tough match. I’m just super happy to be in the finals again and hope I can go all the way again. …”
The 27-year-old Sabalenka, a three-time Grand Slam champion, served up eight aces to Pegula’s three, and saved 5 of 7 break points faced to Pegula’s 4 of 7 saved. Sabalenka tallied 43 winners to 21 for her opponent, but also committed 12 more unforced errors (27 to 15).
The rest of the match was very even, statistically. So even, each player won 87 of the 174 total points.
Sabalenka said of the final, “I will go out there on Saturday and fight for every point like the last point of my life.”
–Field Level Media
