Anisimova Starts Redemption with Strong Opening Win
Last year’s finalist Amanda Anisimova began her campaign with a confident 6-3, 6-2 victory over Lina Gjorcheska of North Macedonia in the opening round on Tuesday.
Reflecting on last year’s final, where Anisimova defeated Aryna Sabalenka to reach her first grand slam final but then suffered a 6-0, 6-0 loss, she acknowledged the challenge of moving on from that experience. Despite the harsh defeat, she rebounded quickly, including a notable win over Iga Swiatek on her way to the US Open final the same year.
Playing on Court No 2 rather than Centre Court, Anisimova embraced the opportunity and indicated that she hopes to return to the bigger stage later in the tournament.
“It was a year ago, so it’s not like I started playing this match thinking about the final or anything last year,” she said. “I stepped out and I was really excited to play, feeling really good. So I just wanted to see where my level is at and challenge myself out there, try to play my game and do all the things that I have been doing in practice.
“Court No 2 isn’t such a small court. I mean, still, it’s a big stadium. [But] hopefully I will be playing on Centre Court again this week, because I feel like I thrive and play my best tennis on the bigger courts.”
Anisimova also shared that she feels rejuvenated after a brief break, following a demanding period recovering from a wrist injury that caused her to miss key clay-court Masters events in Madrid and Rome.
“Feeling like I’m in a much better place now,” she said. “I think the last two months really took a lot out of me, and just the start of the year, it wasn’t the best way to start things out. It was definitely a bit of a strange experience, having to train and train and not knowing if I’m ready to play the tournaments. I was also working hard and doing my best and I think I just got a bit tired at the end of that.”
Rybakina Advances Despite Challenging Second Set
Elena Rybakina, the 2022 champion, overcame a difficult second set to defeat France’s Loïs Boisson 6-4, 1-6, 6-3. She noted the challenge of adjusting to Boisson’s high ball trajectory on grass and the short slices she faced during the match.
“She was playing quite high, I would say, for grass court,” Rybakina said. “For me, it was difficult to actually adjust to these higher balls. And then getting short slices was a bit challenging. In the end, I’m happy that I managed to win it. Definitely will need to work more on these kind of things. Serve was working on and off. The percentage I would love to have higher, but this is something for me also to improve for the next matches.”
Keys Battles Back to Win; Paolini Shines
Madison Keys, who secured her first grand slam title in Australia last year, had to come from a set down to defeat Australia’s Taylor Day 6-7 (5), 6-4, 6-3. Meanwhile, Jasmine Paolini, the runner-up two years ago, described her victory over American Robin Montgomery as her best match of the year, having recovered from a first-set bagel.
Svitolina Suffers Unexpected Early Exit
In a surprising result, Elina Svitolina, seeded No 8, was defeated 7-5, 6-2 by fellow Ukrainian Dara Snigur, ranked world No 77. Svitolina appeared out of sorts during the match, unable to find her rhythm against Snigur’s play.
