At seventeen, Amanda Anisimova took down defending champion Simona Halep on her way to the 2019 Roland Garros semi-finals, flattening winners off a two-handed backhand that already looked like one of the cleanest strikes in the game. Weeks later her father and first coach, Konstantin, died suddenly before the US Open. The years that followed grew heavier, and in May 2023 she announced an indefinite break from tennis, citing burnout and her mental health. She did not play again until January 2024.
What came back was better. At Wimbledon in 2025 she beat world No. 1 Aryna Sabalenka to reach her first major final, lost it 6-0, 6-0 to Iga Swiatek, then answered within weeks by beating Swiatek at the US Open on the way to a second straight final. The biggest of her 4 career titles, WTA 1000 crowns in Doha and Beijing, came in that same season, and by January 2026 she had climbed to a career-high No. 3.
Eight. That is how many places Alexandra Eala climbed in this week's WTA rankings, from No. 28 to a career-best No. 20, after she won the Washington title. She is the only player to enter the top 20 this week, on a list that also pushed three more names into the top 100.
Ranking tale