Amanda Anisimova produced a stunning comeback on Wednesday evening, defeating Iga Swiatek in three sets at the WTA Finals.
The American, who recently offered advice to the younger generation, found herself trailing Swiatek after a titanic first set, but fought back to claim victory: 6-7, 6-4, 6-2.
Consequently, Anisimova has qualified for the semi-finals in Riyadh and will face one of Aryna Sabalenka, Coco Gauff, or Jessica Pegula.
The 24-year-old has finished the 2025 season on a strong note: reaching the US Open final, winning the China Open, and making the semi-finals in Riyadh.
However, according to Anisimova, her strong end to 2025 represents somewhat of an anomaly when comparing her form to that of previous years.
Amanda Anisimova says she has been ‘notorious’ for not ending the season well
After defeating Swiatek on Wednesday, Anisimova reflected on the contest while speaking to former world number nine CoCo Vandeweghe.
“I’m sure it was more of a rollercoaster on the sidelines there, Anisimova said.
“Such a tough battle, and it’s always going to be like that against Iga, and yeah, just told myself go out there and play my best tennis, go for it for sure and I just think I really enjoyed the challenge today.”
Vandeweghe then asked: “At some points, it felt like you just had Iga just breaking ankles out there. She [Swiatek] couldn’t read any which way that you were hitting your groundstrokes.
“Is that something that you deal with, with disguise? Or you just have her banking one way or the other on the forehand or backhand?”
“I think that’s just the way I like to play, especially indoors, the courts here are so fast,” Anisimova responded.”
“So yeah, she was playing very aggressively as well, and I was just trying to time my shots well. I really think I gave it my best today, and I’m just really happy with the result.”
Vandeweghe continued: “As far as seasons go, you’re having one of the best seasons that you’ve had in your career.
“Can you describe the feeling of getting to the year-end championships, to only have a few more matches to play – what it means to you, all the hard work you’ve put in.”
Anisimova responded by saying: “Oh my gosh, I’m pretty notorious for not ending the season so well at the end of the year, so I was telling my sister, ‘yeah I mean I don’t have the best track record for the last tournament of the year, but hopefully this year I can do better.’
And especially here at the WTA Finals, I knew it was going to be so, so tough, but just really trying to do my best and stay here as long as possible, so just super excited to be through to the semi-final.”
So, how has Amanda Anisimova performed in the latter stages of previous WTA seasons?
Anisimova’s recent end-of-season results
In 2021, Anisimova lost in the second round of her final tournament – the Chicago Fall Tennis Classic – to Elina Svitolina.
In 2022, her last tournament was at the US Open, where she was knocked out in the first round by Julia Putintseva.
It must be noted that in 2023, Anisimova took a break from the sport to support her mental health and reduce burnout.
Between May 2023 and January 2024, Anisimova played one tournament – the US Open. At the event, she beat Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova in the first round before losing to Viktoria Kudermetova.
In 2024, Anisimova played her last event at the Wuhan Open. There, she defeated Cristina Bucsa before withdrawing from the tournament.
Ultimately, Anisimova’s self-analysis appears somewhat harsh. Before 2025, Anisimova had not hit her top level and was frankly not expected to reach the latter stages of major WTA events.
In 2025, that notion has changed, and she has most certainly delivered.
