Emma Raducanu’s next opponent at Australian Open: Who is Amanda Anisimova

Friends Amanda Anisimova and Emma Raducanu will meet in the second round of the Australian Open and they have a similar story as both made their breakthroughs at a young age before going through a slump.
The pair enjoyed incredible success as teenagers as in Raducanu’s case she won the 2021 US Open as a 17-year-old while Anisimova reached the semi-final of the 2019 French Open also before her 18th birthday.
But after the highs also came the lows as Raducanu struggled with injury while Anisimova took an extended break due to burnout.
Now both are looking to make their way back up the rankings and, who knows, they could meet in a Grand Slam final in future.
The pair are good friends away from the court as they are often found spending time together while on the travels, but that friendship will become a rivalry when they face each other for the first time.
But who is Amanda Anisimova?
The early stages
There were signs early on Anisimova would rise to the top on the biggest stage as she reached a high of No 2 in the junior rankings and finished runner-up at the 2016 French Open girls’ singles event – a tournament that featured future Grand Slam winners Iga Swiatek and Elena Rybakina.
The following year – aged just 15 – the American made her top-level debut at the Miami Open and not long after she made the step up to Grand Slam level as she won the USTA Roland Garros Wildcard Challenge.
She acquitted herself well, going down in three sets against Kurumi Nara in the first round.
Breakthrough at the top
By 2018 the success at WTA level started to flow as she reached the fourth round of the Indian Wells Open, beating Pauline Parmentier in the first round for her maiden win on the WTA Tour while she also claimed the big scalp of two-time Wimbledon winner Petra Kvitova in the third round.
She picked up a couple more wins during the remainder of the season to finish the campaign inside the top 100 of the WTA Rankings.
But it was the 2019 season where she truly made a name for herself as she reached the fourth round of the Australian Open – beating world No 11 Aryna Sabalenka en route – before winning her major title at the Copa Colsanitas in April.
It all came together again at Roland Garros as she became the first tennis player born in the 21st century to reach the semi-final of Grand Slam, again beating Sabalenka before losing to eventual winner Ashleigh Barty in the last four.
She cracked the top 30 and reached a career-high No 21.
The drop and the rise again
She didn’t quite reach her best heights over the next few years as she slumped to No 78 by 2021 with limited success at Grand Slams.
But there were signs of a resurgence in 2022 as she started the year with her second title, winning the Melbourne Summer Set 2, upsetting top seed Jessica Pegula as well as Daria Kasatkina.
That was followed by a run to the fourth round of the Australian Open as she upset defending champion Naomi Osaka and that was followed by two WTA 1000 quarter-final runs on clay and a last-eight appearance at Wimbledon.
Suddenly she was back in the top 30 of the rankings again and finished the year at No 22.
WTA Features
Aryna Sabalenka v Iga Swiatek v Coco Gauff for world No 1 ranking at Australian Open
Hit by burnout
Anisimova started to feel the effects of her early breakthrough by the end of 2022, losing early at the US Open, and then she started 2023 with a first-round exit at the Australian Open.
She battled bravely despite struggling mentally and physically, but she eventually made a decision to take a sabbatical.
“I’ve really been struggling with my mental health and burnout since the summer of 2022,” she wrote on Instagram.
“It’s become unbearable being at tennis tournaments. At this point my priority is my mental well-being and taking a break for some time. I’ve worked as hard as I could to push through it. I will miss being out there, and I appreciate all the continuous support.”
She took the time off to study at Nova Southeastern University, but most importantly she switched off from tennis and enjoyed a “normal” life.
The big return
Coming back to top-level is never easy after a lengthy period on the sidelines, but Anisimova started off with a run to the fourth round of the 2024 Australian Open, but that was her highlight of the Grand Slam season.
Anisimova was always going to reach the top again and by August she was back in a final as she made her maiden WTA 1000 showpiece match before losing against Jessica Pegula.
“I knew that when I stepped away that I really wanted to come back and I didn’t want to finish my career on that note,” she said. “There was still a lot that I wanted to achieve, and just not finish at such a young age, because I had sacrificed so much and given so much to the sport. So, yeah, I knew that I still had many years that I wanted to play.”
Having started the year at No 373, she finished at No 36.
After a straight-set win over Maria Carlé in the first round of the 2025 Australian Open, an opportunity is waving for Anisimova, but she will need to get past fellow young star Raducanu first while world No 2 Iga Swiatek could await in round three.