RIYADH, Saudi Arabia — They might have been the two most surprising feel-good stories of the year among elite Hologic WTA Tour players:
No. 4 seed Amanda Anisimova, after an extended break from tennis, reached her first major final at Wimbledon, then did it again at the US Open. No. 7 Madison Keys, on the cusp of 30, won her first Grand Slam singles title at the Australian Open. The fellow Americans both made their Top 5 debuts in their breakthrough seasons.
But on Monday night at the WTA Finals — in the first on-court meeting of their professional careers — Amanda Anisimova rallied past fellow American Madison Keys 4-6, 6-3, 6-2 to stay in semifinal contention, while Keys was eliminated with an 0-2 record.
With two round-robin matches now completed in the Serena Williams Group, we know that based on No. 6 seed Elena Rybakina’s 3-6, 6-1, 6-0 comeback victory over No. 2 Iga Swiatek, Rybakina (2-0) is through to the semifinals as the group winner. Anisimova (1-1) and Swiatek (1-1) will play Wednesday for the No. 2 spot.
After winning only three games against Swiatek in the opening round-robin match on Saturday, Keys and her coach and husband, Bjorn Fratangelo, went immediately to the practice court.
“That was a collective decision,” Fratangelo said. “Worked on a few things. You don’t have many opportunities to play another match after losing, so we’ll try to use that as best we can.”
Keys looked out of sorts against Swiatek, possibly because she hadn’t played in 68 days, electing to rest an adductor injury following the US Open.
“No one right now is fresher than us,” Fratangelo said. “We have that under our belt. It’s going to be a completely different match against Amanda.
“It’s a do-or-die situation.”
Clearly, both players were feeling the nerves when the match opened with four straight service breaks. Anisimova scored the first hold to take a 3-2 lead, but Keys broke her again in the ninth game and eventually took the set.
Keys broke again to open the second set and carried that advantage until Anisimova leveled it at 3-all. Anisimova sprinted to close it out, winning the last four games.
Anisimova continued the momentum with another break of Keys to open the third set and eventually took six straight. She essentially closed out the match with authority, by converting her fourth break point in the fifth game.
For the match, Anisimova broke Keys’ booming serve six times.
Before the tournament began, Keys said she wasn’t surprised at the 24-year-old Anisimova’s swift ascent up the rankings ladder.
“Because she’s so good,” Keys said. “I think we all saw that. I think the biggest thing is that to kind of think of how great she was as young as she was, then she took a break. Now still she’s so young, which she keeps reminding me of.
“It’s incredible that she’s been able to do that.”
Anisimova lost the Wimbledon final 6-0, 6-0 to Swiatek, but came back to beat her in the US Open quarterfinals 6-4, 6-3.
“I think the biggest thing I’ve been most impressed with this whole year of hers, her entire comeback, is the way that she handled the Wimbledon final,” Keys said, echoing the thoughts of many in tennis. “I thought she did it with such grace, she handled it so well.”
Anisimova’s comeback over Keys earns her a Wednesday showdown with Swiatek — their third meeting of the year, with a semifinal spot on the line.
