ANISIMOVA CLOSES OUT WIN OVER KEYS
Having both lost their openers in straight sets, the second round-robin match between Amanda Anisimova and Madison Keys felt like a must win. It was also the first time the duo had met on the professional circuit.
Anisimova won through in three sets, but the scoreline does not tell the full story of the match.
Both players struggled for rhythm in the opening set, the error count mounting with double faults also littering the play as the match started with four straight breaks of serve.
But Keys found some momentum first and took the set 6-4, and then moved a break up at the start of the second.
Anisimova, who qualified for the WTA Finals thanks to two Grand Slam final runs at Wimbledon and the US Open, was struggling both on serve and in general, finding the net more often than not and hitting plenty of balls into the tram lines. She cut a frustrated figure at times too, even screaming after yet another error.
But when Keys threw in a loose game midway through the second set, Anisimova needed no further invitation.
She completely turned the match around, reeling off six straight games as she took the second set 6-3 and broke immediately in the third.
A brief wobble late on when serving for the match aside, Anisimova completed the comeback, running out a 4-6 6-3 6-2 winner against the Australian Open champion.
That result sends Rybakina into the semi-finals in top sot from the Serena Williams Group, and means Anisimova still has a chance of advancing herself. She faces Iga Swiatek in a winner-take-all clash.
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