It will take a lot more before the memory of last year’s Wimbledon final will be entirely out of Amanda Anisimova’s system but the American began the job in convincing fashion on Tuesday, beating Lina Gjorcheska of North Macedonia 6-3, 6-2 in the opening round.
Twelve months ago, Anisimova beat Aryna Sabalenka to reach her first grand slam final only to crumble, her 6-0, 6-0 humbling by Iga Swiatek one of those horrible sporting moments where it almost feels bad to be watching. At the time it seemed like it was a loss that would linger for months but, remarkably, she bounced back immediately, beating Swiatek on her way to the US Open final, where Sabalenka beat her in a tight two-setter.
It was Court No 2 and not Centre Court on Tuesday but Anisimova enjoyed the experience, perhaps erasing some of last year’s pain in the process. “It was a year ago, so it’s not like I started playing this match thinking about the final or anything last year,” she said. “I stepped out and I was really excited to play, feeling really good. So I just wanted to see where my level is at and challenge myself out there, try to play my game and do all the things that I have been doing in practice.
“Court No 2 isn’t such a small court. I mean, still, it’s a big stadium. [But] hopefully I will be playing on Centre Court again this week, because I feel like I thrive and play my best tennis on the bigger courts.”
Anisimova said she felt refreshed after a short break, having been left exhausted by the previous couple of months when she returned to the Tour after a wrist injury that forced her to miss the Masters clay-court events in Madrid and Rome.
“Feeling like I’m in a much better place now,” she said. “I think the last two months really took a lot out of me, and just the start of the year, it wasn’t the best way to start things out. It was definitely a bit of a strange experience, having to train and train and not knowing if I’m ready to play the tournaments. I was also working hard and doing my best and I think I just got a bit tired at the end of that.”
Champions find a way through even when they’re not playing well and Elena Rybakina survived a horrific second set to beat Loïs Boisson of France 6-4, 1-6, 6-3. “She was playing quite high, I would say, for grass court,” the 2022 champion said. “For me, it was difficult to actually adjust to these higher balls. And then getting short slices was a bit challenging. In the end, I’m happy that I managed to win it. Definitely will need to work more on these kind of things. Serve was working on and off. The percentage I would love to have higher, but this is something for me also to improve for the next matches.”
Madison Keys, who won her first grand slam title in Australia last year, also had to battle, coming back from a set down to beat Australia’s Taylor Day 6-7 (5), 6-4, 6-3. Jasmine Paolini, the runner-up two years ago, called it her best match of the year after she recovered from a first-set bagel to beat the American Robin Montgomery. But there was a shock defeat for an out of sorts Elina Svitolina, the No 8 seed going out 7-5, 6-2 to her fellow Ukrainian Dara Snigur, the world No 77.
