Defending champion Naomi Osaka didn’t make it to a much-anticipated fourth-round contest against top-ranked Ash Barty at the Australian Open.
Amanda Anisimova, a 20-year-old American ranked 60th in the world, ensured that so-called final-before-the-final won’t happen when she beat the four-time major champion 4-6, 6-3, 7-6 (5) Friday.
“I knew I had to be playing sharp if I wanted to give myself a chance,” said Anisimova, who took out Olympic champion Belinda Bencic in the second round and then accounted for the 2021 Australian Open champion.
After losing the first set, Anisimova knew she needed to get more aggressive or she would be out of the tournament. It worked.
Anisimova saved two match points in the third set, serving to stay in the match, and ended it with an ace. She hit 46 winners to Osaka’s 21.
After winning the title last year — her second at Melbourne Park in three years — Osaka withdrew from the French Open in the second round and skipped Wimbledon as she took a break for her mental health.
After a third-round loss at the U.S. Open, she took an extended layoff to reset and arrived at the year’s first major with a seeding of No. 13.
Barty advanced with a 6-2, 6-3 win over 30th-seeded Camila Giorgi on Rod Laver Arena, the match starting later and finishing earlier than the Osaka-Anisimova contest on the adjoining Margaret Court Arena.
Barty has only conceded eight games and spent less than three hours on court in the first three rounds at Melbourne Park. The Wimbledon champion and 2019 French Open winner is aiming to be the first Australian woman to win her home championship since 1978.
Two-time Australian Open champion Victoria Azarenka’s overpowered 15th-seeded Elina Svitolina 6-0, 6-2 to reach the fourth round at Melbourne Park for the first time since 2016.
Five-year-old Leo, wearing his sunglasses in the news conference room and sitting on his mother’s knee, responded succinctly: “Awesome!”