Have we officially entered the golden age of Amanda Anisimova? It certainly feels that way.
The 24-year-old American has reached back-to-back major finals and won a pair of WTA 1000 titles in 2025. She’s now sitting at No.4 in the world and will be considered on of a handful of players with a good chance to win major titles in 2026.
It took a while, but even Anisimova is now starting to buy into the notion that she’s officially arrived.
“I feel like I’m playing to my full potential,” she said on Sunday after defeating Linda Noskova for her fourth career title in Beijing. “I’m doing all the right things and working really hard as opposed to a few years ago when I felt like I wasn’t competing or performing to my full potential.”
For Anisimova, the success has come fast and furious this year, but the talent – the jawdropping, often unplayable backhand and the ability to produce a befuddling brand of first-strike tennis against the best players in the world – has been there for a while. We saw it in 2017, when she took out Coco Gauff in the US Open Girls’ singles final, and then again in 2019, when she reached the semifinals at Roland-Garros as a 17-year-old.
There have been speed bumps along the way. Anisimova was dealt the most difficult blow when her father and coach passed away suddenly in 2019 just before the US Open, and she was left reeling for a time. Eventually, after a mental health break in which she did some serious soul searching and learned to prioritize happiness, Anisimova has emerged better than ever.
That’s the player we’ve seen in 2025. A fine-tuned aggressor, who is strong mentally and physically. A player who moves better than she ever has, and one who has now benefitting from playing under the white-hot spotlight that shines during the final weekend at majors.
Remember that double-bagel thrashing at the hands of Iga Swiatek in this year’s Wimbledon final? A blow that was decisive enough to make many shrink away from the fight has only seemed to embolden Anisimova.
She was back in a major final less than two months later. If that doesn’t tell you all you need to know about this women’s mental toughness, we don’t know what will.
“I feel like I’ve learned a lot about myself,” Anisimova admitted on Sunday to reporters. “I think I can take a lot of positives and look at it as a lot of progress for me just figuring out ways to face certain challenges and push myself in moments when it feels like I can’t go any further. I feel like in that sense I learned that I’m stronger than I think. That’s a huge win for me.”
Anisimova, who touts a 45-16 win-loss record for the season with two titles, says that improving mentally and striving to better herself even after a season full of windfall wins and profits (including over $6 million in prize money) is of paramount importance when it comes to achieving future success.
“I think your mind can play tricks on you and tell you you can’t keep going, if there’s certain pains you’re having,” she said. “Even negativity that shows up. I think that’s just part of my learning process, just getting better with each day.
“I think the mental game is so important for an athlete. I’m still constantly learning and trying to get better in that department. I think there’s always room for improvement there. That’s why I said that this week has been really great for me in terms of pushing myself and learning ways to keep myself in check and to keep pushing myself and being mentally strong.
“We as athletes don’t feel great day in, day out. I think that’s just part of the learning process.”
