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Amanda Anisimova Australian Open 2022

‘Keep your negative comments to yourself!’ – Amanda Anisimova explains tearful Indian Wells retirement


Amanda Anisimova has revealed she retired from the Indian Wells Masters as she was suffering from an illness and is eager to return, saying she will “try to be better next time.”

American youngster Anisimova was forced to retire against fellow North American prospect Canadian Leylah Fernandez.

Anisimova won the first set 6-2 and was 5-4, 40-0 up but squandered three match points as teenager Fernandez battled back to take the set to a tie-break, which she convincingly won 7-0 to level the scores.

However, just before the much anticipated deciding third set, Anisimova retired and left the Indian Wells court in tears. Unknown at the time, Anisimova attributed her retirement to an illness she had been battling through.

This withdrawal comes immediately after two-time Grand Slam icon Simona Halep’s former coach Darren Cahill decided to end their partnership after just one training session at the ‘Fifth Grand Slam.’

Under Cahill’s guidance, Anisimova won the Melbourne Summer Set and reached the fourth round of the Australian Open after beating defending champion and four-time Slam victor Naomi Osaka and Olympic gold Medallist Belinda Bencic in the process.

In a post published to social media, Anisimova wrote “hi everyone, unfortunately I’ve been quite sick the last few days and yesterday woke up feeling very ill.

“I wanted to try to push through it in the match and continue playing the tournament. I couldn’t go on with the match anymore because I felt like I was putting my health at risk at that point.

“It’s disappointing for me to end this week like this, but that’s just the way it is sometimes.

“I’ll try to be better next time. I’ll look forward to getting back on the court soon. And please keep your negative comments to yourself.”

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Tim Farthing, Tennishead Editorial Director & Owner, has been a huge tennis fan his whole life. He's a tennis journalist and entrepreneur as well as playing tennis to a national standard. He also helps manage his local club and volunteers for his local tennis organisation. He's a specialist in content about the administration of professional tennis and tennis coaching for all levels.