Amanda Anisimova addresses quitting after reaching Wimbledon final | Tennis | Sport
“To be honest if you told me I would be in the final of Wimbledon I would not believe you,” she said moments after dumping the top seed out of the competition. “Especially not this soon. It’s been a year’s turnaround. So many dream of competing on this court. To be in the final is just indescribable, honestly.”
“This doesn’t feel real right now. Aryna is such a tough competitor. I was dying out there. She’s such an incredible competitor, such an inspiration to me and so many other players.
“We had so many tough battles and to come on top today to get into the final at Wimbledon is incredibly special. The atmosphere was special today. I know she’s number one but so many were cheering for me so I just want to say a huge ‘thank you’ to everyone.”
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When asked for her plan for the rest of the day, with the second semi-final between Iga Swiatek and Belinda Bencic to follow, the American replied: “I mean I’ll be around for the next few hours so I’m sure I’ll get a glimpse. It will be an incredible match.
“Hopefully I can finally spend some time with my family. I knew today would be important but it’s still relatively early so I’ll make some time for you guys.”
Anisimova, also affected by the death of her father and long-time coach Konstantin, due to a sudden heart attack, took the brave decision to step away from tennis in 2023.
Anisimova attended college in person, having previously studied online while competing on the WTA Tour, and took up painting, which had been a lost passion due to tennis taking over her life.
She auctioned off her pieces to raise money for charity before eventually coming back to professional sport in 2024.
However, just 12 months ago she failed to qualify for Wimbledon, before putting the hours in and coming back as a finalist after a masterclass to topple the world No. 1. Tennis will be grateful that she opted to make a comeback.
