Amanda Anisimova ‘excited’ by Iga Swiatek rematch after Wimbledon misery

Amanda Anisimova insists she is happy to have another crack at Iga Swiatek as she looks to put her Wimbledon misery firmly behind her.

Seven-and-a-half weeks after the American suffered the worst Wimbledon final defeat in more than a century, failing to win a game against Swiatek, she will take on the Pole again in the quarter-finals of the US Open.

Anisimova has picked herself up impressively, with a 6-0 6-3 victory over Beatriz Haddad Maia on Monday night seeing her reach the last eight at her home grand slam for the first time.

“I’m really excited and looking forward to it,” she said of her clash with Swiatek.

“At this stage of the game, you’re going to play a really tough opponent regardless. So, to be able to have a rematch or to be able to face her again and give myself another chance, I’m really, really happy about that.

“I feel like it’s going to be a really tough challenge, but I feel like I’ve been playing well. I’m sure it’s going to be a great match, and I hope I can put on a good performance.”

Anisimova had produced her best grand slam result by upsetting Aryna Sabalenka in the Wimbledon semi-finals only to freeze on the big stage in the final.

Such moments can sometimes turn out to be important stepping stones, but the 24-year-old added: “I don’t think it helped me become a better player in any way.

“It wasn’t a good performance by any means. I feel like maybe I learned some things from it and some things I can do differently, but above all I think it was just a learning experience.

“Bouncing back from that actually was a little bit difficult because that never happened to me before. But I’ve worked through it, and the hard-court season started off strong for me. So I feel like I have moved on from that at this point.”

Swiatek has maintained her form from Wimbledon, losing just one of her last 19 matches and easing to a 6-3 6-1 victory over Ekaterina Alexandrova in the fourth round here.

The world number two was questioned about her ruthless attitude after the Wimbledon final, but she does not believe she is any different to any other professional athlete, saying: “If you want to become an athlete, you need to want to win the point.

“Honestly, I think every athlete has kind of the same vision and mentality but obviously, because of the score at Wimbledon, everybody started asking this question. When you don’t play sports, you don’t get it, but if you do, then you know that you’re not going to give anything for free.”