Naomi Osaka is eliminated at the Australian Open by Amanda Anisimova
MELBOURNE, Australia — Upset again in the third round by rising unranked young talent, Naomi Osaka was in a different mood and better placed in this Grand Slam tournament.
In September, after her three-set loss to Leylah Fernandez at the US Open, Osaka was dejected, confused and needed a long break to rekindle her passion for tennis.
Late Friday night in Melbourne, following her straight-set loss to Amanda Anisimova at the Australian Open, Osaka was disappointed but eager to see the silver lining and look forward to a full season.
“I fought for every point; I can’t be sad about it,” Osaka said. “You know, like, I’m not God. I can’t win every game, you know. So I have to take that into account and know that it would be nice to win the tournament, but it’s really special.
Osaka, 24, knows this feeling well. She has won four Grand Slam singles titles, including two at the Australian Open, and was the defending champion in Melbourne. But after almost four months out of competition, she was only seeded 13th this year. Although she was able to summon a lot of power and desire on Friday, she was unable to close the deal against Anisimova, a 20-year-old American who has long been considered one of the most promising players. Game.
In women’s tennis – brimming with depth and fearless youth – no established star is truly safe. Anisimova, 60th in the standings, proved it again by matching Osaka’s powerful groundstroke for the groundstroke in Margaret Court Arena, with the crowd often chanting “Amanda” in encouragement.
It was her first match against Osaka, and Anisimova did not flinch: winning in three tense sets 4-6, 6-3, 7-6 (10-5), and saving two match points on her serve in the last set.
“I think it was the hardest in the first set to be honest; I was just trying to step up my game, and I think that’s why my nerves were a little more nervous,” Anisimova said in an interview with The New York Times. “Because I knew I had to really dig deep and try to be more aggressive to give myself a chance to win today. But in the third set I wasn’t really nervous at all.
“I love playing in those high-pressure moments, and I think it’s really fun to play in Melbourne in front of an audience like that. So I was just trying to really enjoy every moment. to remind myself: “I’m at a Grand Slam against Naomi Osaka, just try to enjoy it, because it will be over soon.”
A semi-finalist at the French Open aged 17 in 2019, Anisimova, the daughter of Russian immigrants to the United States, looked set to play a starring role in the game regularly as a teenager, but it was before his father and longtime coach, Konstantin, died of a heart attack in August 2019, shortly before the US Open.
Anisimova retired from the tournament and returned to the circuit later that year, but has often struggled with her emotions and consistency in matches since then.
“I think that’s definitely why I had a tough few years playing tennis,” Anisimova said of her father’s death. “I think when I came back to it a few months after what happened, I think I was just trying to ignore it and push it away and tell everyone it was okay. And I think that it really wasn’t, and I didn’t take enough time for myself to really try to recover from that and just take enough time for myself before I was ready to hit the court.
“Because I feel like everyone wanted me on the court, and I don’t know if I was fully there during that time. Now that I think back, I think I’m starting to realizing things and seeing things a lot clearer this year. I think I’ve grown a lot since then. It was just a very confusing time for me after that, and it was also a very long time. And I was just a little lost.
For different reasons, Osaka also felt lost. After winning the title again in Melbourne last year, she looked set to dominate the sport, at least on the hard courts that suit her style best. But her game began to deteriorate in early spring, and a confrontation with French Open officials over her refusal to appear for the mandatory post-match press conferences led her to withdraw from the tournament. Afterwards, she went public with her years-long battle with depression, took two months off, then returned to the Tokyo Olympics, where she lit the torch but lost in the third round under relentless pressure to excel.
When she returned to the circuit in August, she broke down in tears during a remote press conference and briefly left the venue before returning. At the US Open, after her loss to Fernandez, she admitted that she no longer finds pleasure in the sport, even after wins.
Since then, she said she has been experimenting with meditation and writing in a journal.
“Trying to figure out what my goals are and what I want to accomplish in this career,” she said. “Because I’m here at the Australian Open right now, but you never know when it’s going to be your last.”
Osaka said she doesn’t want to take playing on the biggest show grounds for granted. “I just feel like I need to shift my mindset more and of course be more grateful for the things I’ve accomplished and the things I want to accomplish,” she said.
Osaka returned to competition earlier this month, and while she acknowledged her game is a work in progress, she also clarified that Anisimova’s power and style played a major role in the outcome. of Friday. The American had 46 winning points against Osaka’s 21 and one unforced error less (44 to 45). Osaka said she was surprised by the flat pace of Anisimova’s shots, especially her returns.
“I almost felt like I was fighting for my life in some games,” Osaka said. “Honestly, I also thought that I won some games purely out of sheer willpower.”
However, she couldn’t win the match that mattered the most. With Anisimova serving at 4-5 in the third set, Osaka got two match points and failed to convert either, missing backhands each time. Anisimova held serve with an ace, then served another ace to hold serve and force a tiebreaker.
She took an early 3-0 lead, then regained command when Osaka cut their lead to 5-4, winning a series of comprehensive base rallies. Two points from victory, she finished the surprise with a volley of forehand and a final ace: her 11th of the match.
Anisimova dropped her racquet and covered her face with both hands before looking down at her team, which includes, for now, veteran coach Darren Cahill, an Australian who guided Simona Halep to the No.1 ranking and agreed to help Anisimova with her application for the Aussie swing. It has been a resounding success so far, with Anisimova winning the title in a preliminary tournament in Melbourne and now reaching the fourth round of the Australian Open.
“Yesterday I was stressing myself out a bit, trying to play perfectly,” she said of Cahill. “He steps in at those times and tells me, relax and play the game that I know.”
Anisimova’s win halted the tournament’s most anticipated match, a potential fourth-round duel between Osaka and world No. 1 Ashleigh Barty of Australia. Anisimova will now face Barty, who is yet to drop a set and beat No. 30 seed Camila Giorgi 6-2, 6-3 on Friday.
At Roland Garros 2019, Anisimova overcame a 1-5 deficit to win the first set against Barty in the semi-finals and took a 3-0 lead in the second set before Barty rallied to win in three sets , then win the title, his first. in singles at a Grand Slam tournament.
But a lot has changed for Anisimova since then, and she said she was inspired by Osaka’s openness about her mental health issues.
“Just to raise awareness and try to get rid of the stigma around mental health,” Anisimova said. “I think we’re in a completely different time now. This generation is getting more honest about all those kinds of things. I think it’s great to see. I’m comfortable talking about anything, you know. I’ve been through a tough few years, and I don’t mind posting stuff on social media and just trying to raise awareness for people who are also going through tough stuff.
Late Friday night in Melbourne, there was nothing but good news: a world apart a year ago when she was still reeling from the death of her father and missed the Australian Open altogether after tested positive for coronavirus.
“I wouldn’t say I wish I had gone through these things, or I’m grateful that I went through these things because they are very difficult,” Anisimova said. “But those are the things that got me to where I am today. And yes, they made me strong.
Comments are closed.