“I just kept telling myself to first keep believing in myself. Second off, just to bring my level up,” A jubilant Amanda Anisimova said after earning a hard-fought fourth-round Wimbledon win on Monday. Despite facing a tough challenge from Linda Noskova, the 23-year-old American kept her calm and crossed the finish line. After home fans witnessed back-to-back upsets of stars like Coco Gauff, Jessica Pegula, and Madison Keys, all hopes are from Anisimova to end a 9-year-0ld wait. But she’s got another tough battle to go through. When she steps on the grass on Tuesday, she will be up against Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova.
Anisimova’s Wimbledon journey has been stupendous so far. She kicked off her campaign with a dominating performance over Yulia Putintseva. A double bagel (6-0, 6-0). Anisimova was a nightmare for Putintseva in that matchup. Up next, Anisimova bested Mexico’s Renata Zarazua in the second round in straight sets as well. The level escalated a bit after that as she faced Hungary’s Dalma Gálfi. Anisimova lost the second set after snatching the first one. But she kept her cool and eventually made a stellar return to win the decider. She confirmed her quarterfinal appearance at the grass major with another difficult win over Noskova in the fourth round. The 23-year-old won the first set, lost the second one but came back under pressure to pull off a stunning win.
Her Russian opponent, Pavlyuchenkova, has had a tough journey at the grass major. But she’s managed to stay afloat. She kicked out Australia’s Ajla Tomljanović in the first round of the decider. Moving forward, she ousted American Ashlyn Krueger in straight sets before besting four-time slam queen Naomi Osaka. The latter was looking to win the match while the Russian made a remarkable effort. She snatched the last two sets to enter the third round. Pavlyuchenkova then edged out British talent Sonay Kartal in the fourth round on Monday to get a quarterfinal ticket.
When it comes to their event history, Anisimova has previously made it to the QF stage at Wimbledon. Three years ago, she did it after besting France’s Harmony Tan but lost in the R8 against Simona Halep. Pavlyuchenkova has earned her first QF entry after nearly a decade at Wimbledon. Despite being a veteran, she’s done it only once in the past, in 2016. Anisimova is 3-0 ahead so far in their head-to-head record. When they met last time, it was during 2024’s Citi Open in Washington. Anisimova emerged victorious in that R16 battle with a score line of 6-1, 6-7, 6-4. Interestingly, all of their meetings have been on hard courts. On Tuesday, they will have a go at each other on grass for the first time. It’s the one surface where both of them have performed brilliantly this season.
In 2025, Amanda Anisimova has won 10 of her 12 overall grass court matches since last month (including the ongoing Wimbledon). Simply put, she’s got an impressive win percentage of 83.33. Pavlyuchenkova is not far behind. She’s clinched seven out of her eight grass encounters with an excellent win percentage of 87.5.
Image Credits: Amanda Anisimova/Instagram
Anisimova has made it to the semis of a slam only once. Six years ago, aged 17, she did it at the 2019 French Open but couldn’t enter the summit clash after losing to ex-Aussie icon Ashleigh Barty. This time, she will look to change her past. Despite Pavlyuchenkova’s strong challenge, she’s expected to win in a decider.
Since 2016, no American woman has lifted the Venus Rosewater Dish trophy at the Wimbledon. It’s been nine years since the 23-time slam champion Serena Williams achieved this feat. Moreover, there’s one more milestone Anisimova can attain should she enter the semis. It’s her WTA rankings.
Amanda Anisimova may break into top 10 thanks to Wimbledon
After besting Noskova in the fourth round, Amanda Anisimova couldn’t resist her feelings of joy. After two hours and two minutes, she finally emerged victorious. Reacting initially in disbelief, she said, “I didn’t remember what the score was,” reported WTA’s website on July 7. “Someone told me, ‘You were 1-3 down.’ I was like, ‘I was?’”
She continued, “I just kept telling myself to, first, keep believing in myself. Second off, just to bring my level up because I feel like I was playing a bit tentative there. … I knew I had to step it up if I wanted to give myself a chance there in the third.”
If Anisimova succeeds in entering the last four and then the finals, she’s guaranteed to break into the top 10. Currently, she’s ranked No.12 and is knocking on the door of the top 10 list. If she succeeds, it will be the first time in her career that she will be placed among the top 10 WTA stars. Now everything depends on her QF result against Pavlyuchenkova on Tuesday.
Can she really create history for America after nine years? Do you think the 23-year-old has what it takes to make it happen this season at the grass major? Let us know in the comments below.
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