NEW YORK (USA): 2019 French Open semifinalist and No. 22 seed Amanda Anisimova overcame Bulgarian Viktoriya Tomova, 7-5, 7-5, and advance to the second round of US Open on Tuesday.
The 19-year-old American — who defeated Coco Gauff to become 2017 US Open junior champion—is the highest-ranked teenager in the 2020 draw.
She possesses one of the purest backhands in the sport currently, but she can fire easy winners off of both wings, and in the first set, she did just that.
Tomova was slightly more consistent throughout, and she was able to get enough balls back into the court to entice Anisimova into committing errors. The pair traded breaks twice and stayed close throughout, but with Tomova serving at 5-6, Anisimova hit some great shots to break and seal the first set.
Tomova broke in the first game of the second set, then promptly lost the next four games as Anisimova’s shots and serve started to click.
At 2-4, however, the Bulgarian took advantage of a mishit return that just dropped over the net to break back and then level the match at 4-4 on her own serve.
The two stayed on serve to 5-6, but just like the first, Anisimova took control in the final game to break and claim the match.
