Amanda Anisimova continued a stellar season in which she has finished as runner-up at Wimbledon and the US Open by advancing to her second WTA 1000 final of the year, outclassing Coco Gauff, the defending champion, 6-1, 6-2 in the semi-finals of the China Open.
Seeded third in Beijing, the 24-year-old American now has a 2-1 edge in her head-to-head record against her compatriot Gauff.
Anisimova bludgeoned her way to a 5-0 advantage in the opening set before the second seed got on the board to make it 5-1. The second set unfolded in a similar fashion, with Anisimova building a commanding 5-0 lead. Although Gauff fought back to win the next two games, Anisimova sealed the victory in 58 minutes.
“I was able to put on a really good performance and I knew I was going to have to play really well against Coco if I wanted to get the win. I’m really excited to be in the final,” Anisimova said.
“I’ve been saying every time I’ve walked on court and won my match that I love playing here and the crowd support has been so amazing since the first day I got here. I really think that’s carried me through this entire tournament. Hopefully everyone can come out and support me in the final.”
Next up for the world No 4 is Linda Noskova. The Czech 26th seed beat the American fifth seed, Jessica Pegula, 6-3, 1-6, 7-6(6) in the second semi-final later on Saturday.
Meanwhile at the Shanghai Masters, Alexander Zverev has claimed tournament organisers are slowing down courts to favour the world’s top two, Carlos Alcaraz and Jannik Sinner. The world No 3 overcame an injury scare to beat Valentin Royer 6-4, 6-4 but then expressed his dissatisfaction with the way he felt the sport was heading.
“I hate when it’s the same, ” he said in his on-court interview. “I think the tournament directors are going towards that direction because they want Jannik and Carlos to do well every tournament, and that’s what they prefer. Nowadays, you can play almost the same way on every surface. I don’t like it, I’m not a fan of it. I think tennis needs different game styles, tennis needs a little bit of variety and I think we’re lacking that right now.”
Zverev had to be treated on court for a toe injury when serving for the match at 5-4 in the second set but it did not halt his progress. “I landed funny on my toe and after that I could barely do a step, so we’ll see what it is,” he added. “We will see if I will ever be healthy this year again, because it’s been a struggle but I’m happy to be through.”
