Amanda Anisimova
American Tennis Player
Amanda Anisimova is an American tennis player. She made her debut on the WTA Tour at the Miami Open in April 2017.
Amanda Anisimova
• Date of birth: 31 August 2001
• Age: 21 years old
• Place of birth: Freehold, New Jersey, USA
• Residence: Aventura, Florida, USA
• Country (sports): USA
• Height: 180cm / 5ft 11ins
• Plays: Right-handed
• Turned pro: 2016
• Career Prize Money: US$ 3,792,367
• Instagram: @amandaanisimova
• Twitter: @AnisimovaAmanda
The 21-year-old started playing tennis when she was around five years old after going to her sister’s practices regularly and developing a love for the game.
Her parents are from Russia but moved to the United States in 1998, before she was born.
She made her debut on the WTA Tour when she was 15 years old at the Miami Open in 2017 after being handed a wildcard into the main draw.
Her grand slam debut soon followed at the 2017 French Open, where she was handed a wildcard into the main draw but lost in the first round.
Anisimova claimed her first career WTA title at the Claro Open Colsanitas in Bogata when she was 17 years old.
Asked to reveal her targets for her tennis career back in 2017, Anisimova said: “I hope to be number one and win every grand slam.”
So, what do we know about Amanda’s journey to becoming the talented tennis player she is today? This is her story.
Early Life, Parents And Upbringing
Amanda Anisimova was born on 31 August 2001 in Freehold, New Jersey, USA, to mother Olga Anisimova and father Konstantin Anisimov, who died in 2019. Her parents emigrated from Russia to the United States before she was born.
She has an older sister named Maria, who played college tennis for the University of Pennsylvania while attending Wharton’s undergraduate business school.
A young Amanda Anisimova with her father Konstantin (Photo: @amandaanisimova / Instagram)
Her family moved to moved to Aventura in Florida when she was around three years old, so her older sister Maria could pursue tennis.
Amanda began playing tennis when she was around five years old after seeing her sister Maria playing the game regularly.
“My sister ended up playing for UPenn at college,” Amanda explained in an interview with wtatennis.com back in 2017. “So when I was little she was playing tennis. I always saw her playing, and I wanted to do it too. That’s how I got into it and my parents got into it too.”
Growing up, her tennis idols were Serena Williams and Maria Sharapova.
Anisimova’s father Konstantin followed her daughter into tennis and was her main coach for the early parts of her career.
“We keep things very simple,” said Anisimov back in 2017. “I told her, when you play, you have to compete but you have to enjoy. It’s a beautiful day, people came to see you play, just have fun.”
Junior Career
Anisimova was a strong junior player and her junior ranking peaked at number two in the world in June 2016.
She won five junior titles, most notably triumphing in the girls’ singles at the 2017 junior US Open. She beat fellow American Coco Gauff in the final at Flushing Meadows, 6-0 6-2.
Her first junior title came in 2015 at the Abierto Juvenil Mexicano. She also triumphed at the XXX Yucatan Cup and 53rd Coffee Bowl (Copa Del Cafe) in 2016, and at the Campeonato Internacional Juvenil de Tenis de Porto Alegre in 2017.
Amanda Anisimova (Photo: @amandaanisimova / Instagram)
Early Career And First Title
Amanda made her debut in the main draw of a WTA Tour tournament in April 2017 at the Miami Open. She was handed a wildcard into the main draw but lost to fellow American Taylor Townsend in three sets.
Anisimova made her grand slam main-draw debut at the 2017 French Open after being handed a wildcard. She lost in three sets to Japan’s Kurumi Nara in the first round.
At 15 years old, she was the youngest player to participate in the main draw of the French Open since Alize Cornet back in 2005.
Anisimova scored her first WTA Tour match win at Indian Wells in 2018. After being handed a wildcard into the main draw, she defeated Pauline Parmentier, Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova and Petra Kvitova before losing to Karolina Pliskova in the fourth round.
Amanda Anisimova (Photo: @amandaanisimova / Instagram)
In September 2018, Anisimova came through qualifying at the Japan Open to reach her first WTA Tour final. She lost to Su-Wei Hsieh of Taiwan in straight sets in the final.
More Progress And Personal Tragedy
Anisimova continued to make steady progress up the WTA rankings and started 2019 in excellent form, notching up her first career main-draw grand slam wins by reaching the fourth round of the Australian Open in Melbourne. She lost to Petra Kvitova in round four.
She then claimed her first career WTA title at the Claro Open Colsanitas in Bogata in April 2019. She beat Astra Sharma of Australia, 4-6 6-4 6-1 to claim the trophy.
“I think this was a pretty big goal because I overcame so many challenges this week,” Anisimova said after her win. “I’m really happy and proud of myself for how I got through them, and winning my first WTA title means so much.”
Amanda Anisimova (Photo: Australian Open / YouTube / Screengrab)
Amanda continued to make impressive progress and enjoyed a stellar run at the 2019 French Open. She beat the likes of Harmony Tan, Aryna Sabalenka and Simona Halep en route to reaching the semi-finals of a grand slam tournament for the first time in her career, before falling to Ash Barty in the last four.
Amanda and her family were struck by tragedy in August 2019 when her father Konstantin unexpectedly died aged 52 from a suspected heart attack, just days before the US Open and a week before her 18th birthday.
“It was the worst thing that ever happened to me,” Anisimova said in January 2020. “It was very tough. As soon as I got back to tennis, it is what made me happy. And I know that’s what my dad would want me to be doing. That’s what would make him proud.
Anisimova began 2020 by reaching the semi-finals of the Auckland Open, where she lost to Serena Williams.
After seasons of mixed results in 2020 and 2021, Anisimova claimed her second career WTA title at the Melbourne Summer Set 2 in January 2022. She beat Aliaksandra Sasnovich in three sets to claim the trophy.
“To start off the year playing my first tournament with a title, it’s a really amazing feeling,” Anisimova said after the triumph. “I think [Sasnovich] was playing extremely well today, so it was a very difficult match, and I just had to grit my teeth into this one, just fight for every single point.”
Anisimova then reached the fourth round of the Australian Open, where she lost to eventual champion Ash Barty.
In the summer of 2022, Amanda reached the quarter-finals at Wimbledon for the first time in her career, losing to Simona Halep in the last eight at SW19.
Amanda Anisimova (Photo: @amandaanisimova / Instagram)
Earnings And Prize Money
As of July 2022, Amanda Anisimova has earned a total of US$ 3,792,367 in career prize money, combined for both singles and doubles.
In 2019, Anisimova signed a long-term endorsement deal with sportswear giant Nike.
Life Away From The Court
Away from tennis, Amanda enjoys music, running, writing, jet skiing and going to the beach. She has a dog named Miley.
What Have Others Said?
Karolina Pliskova, speaking after beating Anisimova in the second round of the US Open in September 2021: “Super tough match from the first moment. I think she was playing incredible tonight. I was trying to stay in there, of course not really playing my best, but I think it was because she played really fast, super deep; great serving, both of us. You could see it was about a couple points, and it was a bit of luck in the end – you need that sometimes.”
