Amanda Anisimova reacts after defeating defending champion Naomi Osaka in their third-round match at the Australian Open on Friday. (Tertius Pickard / Associated Press) |
It’s part of her new
resolution for 2022. No dwelling on what’s already happened.
Osaka had two match
points against 60th-ranked Amanda Anisimova in the third set Friday, and she
missed two backhands.
Anisimova held serve
to force a tiebreaker, which she dominated, and finished with an ace for a 4-6,
6-3, 7-6 (5) comeback victory over the four-time major champion.
In doing so, the
20-year-old American ensured that the so-called final-before-the-final — a
much-anticipated fourth-round showdown between Osaka and top-ranked Ash Barty —
won’t happen.
“I’m not sure if I’m
going to have regrets about those two match points,” Osaka said. “Like, I
thought she played really well. But I can’t really look in the past anymore,
you know?
“Like I just have to focus on what I can do
in the future to hopefully evade those situations.”
Anisimova, who had lost her previous nine
matches against top 20 players and had to rebound from a set and a break down
to survive her first-round match, hit 46 winners to Osaka’s 21.
Osaka, one of the most powerful hitters in
the women’s draw, praised Anisimova’s service returns and described how the
ball kept coming back at her so low and fast that she couldn’t adjust her
footwork to counter it.
“I just want to soak in this moment,” said
Anisimova, who took out Olympic champion Belinda Bencic in the second round.
“It was an amazing match. It was very close. You know, there were a bit of
nerves, and to play Naomi for the first time ... it’s unreal, honestly.”
Anisimova won her first WTA hardcourt title
at a tuneup tournament in Melbourne this month and is now on an eight-match
winning streak — the longest of her career in main draw matches.
It’s the fourth time Osaka has been unable
to defend a major title, and the 11th time in her 21 trips to Grand Slam events
she has been knocked out in the third round, including last year’s U.S. Open.
After winning the title last year — her
second at Melbourne Park in three years — Osaka withdrew from the French Open
in the second round and skipped Wimbledon to take a break for her mental
health. After her tearful exit at the U.S. Open, she took an extended layoff to
reset and arrived at the year’s first major with a seeding of No. 13. She also
brought a new approach, vowing to enjoy the game more and never again cry in a
news conference. She’s spent time meditating, keeping a journal of things she
needs to be grateful for, and more time hanging out with family and friends.
“I can’t win every match. So I just have
to, like, take that into account,” Osaka said. “I feel like I grew a lot in
this match. The last match that I played in New York I think I had a completely
different attitude, so I’m really happy with — you know, of course I lost, but
I’m happy with how it went.”
Barty is hoping to become the first
Australian woman to win the championship here since 1978.
She advanced to the fourth round with a
6-2, 6-3 win over 30th-seeded Camila Giorgi and has only conceded eight games
and spent less than three hours on court.
A career break a few years back, to play
professional cricket, did Barty a world of good. Since her return, she won her
first Grand Slam title at the 2019 French Open — beating Anisimova in the
semifinals — and won Wimbledon last year.
The hype surrounding the fourth round
didn’t impact her planning.
“Each match is uncertain. You just have to
navigate your way through as best you can that given moment,” Barty said. “I’ve
done a good job of that this week. Now it’s exciting to get to play Amanda
again.”
Osaka’s loss means Victoria Azarenka
remains the last woman to successfully defend an Australian Open singles title.
She overpowered 15th-seeded Elina Svitolina 6-0, 6-2 to reach the fourth round
at Melbourne Park for the first time since 2016.
She had her son with her at a news
conference and five-year-old Leo, wearing his sunglasses and sitting on his
mother’s knee, described the two-time champion’s form as: “Awesome!”
The 2012 and 2013 titlist will next play
French Open champion Barbora Krejcikova, who rallied from a set and a break
down to beat 26th-seeded Jelena Ostapenko 2-6, 6-4, 6-4.
Since a quarterfinal run in Australia in
2016, Azarenka lost first-round matches last year and in 2019, and missed the
hard-court tournament in 2017, 2018 and 2020.
Other fourth-round pairings that were set
up Friday include fifth-seeded Maria Sakkari against 21st-seeded Jessica Pegula
and No. 8 Paula Badosa against Madison Keys, who held off Wang Qiang 4-6, 6-3,
7-6 (2) on Friday.
Rafael Nadal wrapped up the Day 5 program
on Rod Laver Arena by beating Olympic silver medalist Karen Khachanov 6-3, 6-2,
3-6, 6-1 and continuing his bid for a men’s record 21st Grand Slam title.
Olympic gold medalist Alexander Zverev had
a 6-3, 6-4, 6-4 win earlier over Radu Albot, a 124th-ranked qualifier from
Moldova. The third-seeded Zverev will next play No. 14 Denis Shapovalov, who
beat Reilly Opelka 7-6 (4), 4-6, 6-3, 6-4.
Wimbledon runner-up Matteo Berrettini
fended off 18-year-old Spaniard Carlos Alcaraz 6-2, 7-6 (3), 4-6, 2-6, 7-6 (5).
Miomir Kecmanovic continued to make the most
of the absence of fellow Serbian Novak Djokovic, reaching the fourth round at a
major for the first time with a 6-4, 6-7 (8), 6-2, 7-5 win over 25th-seeded
Lorenzo Sonego.
He will next play 17th-seeded Gael Monfils,
who beat No. 16 Cristian Garin 7-6 (4), 6-1, 6-3.
Kecmanovic had been drawn to play the
top-ranked Djokovic, a nine-time Australian Open champion, in the first round.
But Djokovic was deported on the eve of the tournament for failing to meet
Australia’s strict COVID-19 regulations. -AP