Sport: Tennis
Born: August 31, 2001
Town: Freehold Township, New Jersey
Amanda Kay Victoria Anisimova was born August 31, 2001 in Freehold Township, NJ. Her parents, Olga and Konstantin, moved Amanda and her older sister, Maria, to Florida when she was three. The Anisimov family moved to the US from Moscow before Amanda was born so that they could pursue their careers in the finance industry and give Maria better opportunities to develop her tennis skills. They had also considered a move to Spain, but had relatives already settled in America.
Although neither parent had played the sport competitively, Konstantin acted as her primary coach—and became a tennis pro after the family moved to Florida. Amanda learned mostly from watching Maria and did not receive any formal coaching from her dad until she was seven. At 11, she also started working with Nick Saviano, a coach in Aventura, near Ft. Lauderdale. Max Fomine later became her traveling coach.
Amanda developed into a fine junior player, but did not draw much attention until she won the 2015 Abierto Juvenil—one of the world’s toughest tournaments—a few months after turning 14. The following spring, she reached the junior finals at the French Open. That summer her world ranking continued to climb and she continued winning Grade-A tournaments, including the junior titles at the US Open. Amanda did not drop a set during the tournament and wiped out Coco Gauff in the final. She also made the qualifying round of the US Open, winning her first match but losing her second.
Amanda turned pro in early 2017 and became the youngest player to compete in the main draw of the French Open in 12 years. She won her first pro title at age 15 that summer at the Gold River Women’s Challenger in Sacramento, inching ever closer to a Top 100 ranking. Her two-handed backhand was her most powerful weapon, along with her quickness, which enabled her to win long rallies. In the years that followed, Amanda also became adept at returning serve, particularly second serves, which she often hit at extreme angles with her hard, flat forehand.
After being sidelined several months in 2018 by a foot injury, Amanda recovered to reach her first final as a member of the WTA Tour at the Japan Open. In 2019, she reached the fourth round of the Australia Open, including a victory over Aryna Sabalenka, a Top 20 player. That spring she won her first WTA tournament, the Copa Colsanitas in Colombia, and also reached the semifinals of the French Open. At 17, she was seemingly knocking on the door of a Top 20 world ranking herself. However, Amanda was also dealing with the heartbreak of losing her father that year. Konstantin passed away unexpectedly at the age of 52.
Amanda continued to develop her game during the 2020 and 2021 seasons, much of which were played under distracting Covid restrictions. She won her second WTA title in early 2022, followed by a second-round victory over Naomi Osaka in the Australian Open. She beat Osaka again in the opening round of the French Open, and defeated Gauff at Wimbledon in the third round. Despite these headline-making victories and others, Amanda was unable to string together enough solid performances to capture another tournament and, in the spring of 2023, announced she would take a break from tennis.
Amanda jumped back into the pro tour in 2024 but failed to win another tournament. That changed early in 2025 with a finals win at the Qatar Ladies Open over Jelena Ostapenk—cracking the world Top 20. She rose to #12 after reaching the final of the Queen’s Club grasscourt tournament. At Wimbledon, Amanda reached the semis against Sabalenka, now the #1 player in the world. She ousted her longtime foe in three sets to advance to the final against Iga Swiatek. Unfortunately, the magic ended there, as the Polish star beat her 6–0, 6–0.
Less than two months later, Amanda found herself playing Swiatek again, this time in Arthur Ashe Stadium in the US Open quarterfinal—and beat her, 6–4, 6–3. It began with Amanda blowing the first game, but from then on she was locked in. The victory was arguably the most memorable of the year in women’s tennis, answering any questions about her talent or resilience. What Amanda learned from her Wimbledon humiliation she put to good use, playing defense against her aggressive opponent and preventing her from moving her from side-to-side.
Amanda beat Naomi Osaka in the next round and advanced to the finals , where she felt short of her first grand slam singles title—where she lost to Aryna Sabalenka. In the process, however, she broke into the Top 5 in the WTA ranking. She finished the year with a victory at the China Open and a slot in the WTA Finals. Amanda made it to the tournament semis