America’s Amanda Anisimova recently became the first woman born in the 2000s to reach the semifinals of Wimbledon. Following her 6-1,7-6(9) victory over Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova, she said, “It was a super tough match there. A really big battle. She’s a really tough player, tough opponent.” She claimed that she is really happy with the way she continued her fight in this match to bring this victory. Be it mental health struggles or the loss of a very close one in her family, Anisimova has faced a lot of hurdles in the last few years. Can she become the first American woman to win the Wimbledon Championships after Serena Williams (won in 2016)?
Time will tell! She is currently taking on the world number one, Aryna Sabalenka, in her SF match. Both players have got off to a strong start, and the score is now well-poised at 3-3 in the first set. But if we take a look at Amanda Anisimova’s journey, her career got a bit off track in 2019 due to her father’s untimely demise. She had reached the last four of the French Open at that time, but Anisimova had to miss the US Open in that year. Just before the start of the tournament, she received the tragic news.
Her father, Konstantin Anisimova, was her long-time coach, and he passed away due to a heart attack at the age of just 52, while her daughter was busy preparing herself for the Home Slam (it was also a week before her 18th birthday). It came like a bolt from the blue, for the youngsters and Amanda Anisimova rushed to her home in Miami to mourn the tragic loss of one of her biggest supporters in her life. Following that incident, when she came back on the Tour, during an interview, she was asked, “Do you feel unsettled?” She literally broke down in tears after hearing this question.After regaining her composure a bit, she replied, “Do we really have to talk about this so fast after a match?”
Credit – Instagram/Amanda Anisimova
Two months after that personal tragedy, Amanda Anisimova gave an interview to The Post and during that interview, she claimed, “It was the worst thing that ever happened to me. It was very tough.” But having said that, she also admitted that making a comeback on the courts made her happy because she knew that her dad would always want her to play and make her proud.
The post What Happened to Amanda Anisimova’s Late Father Konstantin? Here’s What Your Need to Know appeared first on EssentiallySports.