Ianna Martinez Barrientos Staff Writer

It is always risky when an athlete decides to take a break from their sport. During their time off, they could be replaced by someone else, drop in rankings, and drop in performance. It is especially risky in a sport like tennis where it is rumoured that only the top 200 players are able to make a proper living from their prize money. Amanda Anisimova turned pro at the age of 15 and in two years, played against Ashleigh Barty in the French Open semi-finals. By the end of 2019, she ranked number 24 in the WTA (Women’s Tennis Association) and would be one of the youngest players in the top 50.

2019 turned into a difficult year for Anisimova as her father and her former tennis coach died from a heart attack at age 52. At the time, Anisimova was about to turn 18 and play in the US Open. She revealed to the New York Post that the death of her father was “the worst thing that happened to me.” In 2023, Anisimova would make the difficult decision to take a break from tennis for several months. Her decision to leave behind the court, her tennis racket, and a high ranking would be brought on by burnout and mental health issues. She put out a statement on her Instagram page, saying that “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.”

During her time off Anisimova attended in-person university classes for the first time, picked up art as a hobby, and did not play tennis for months during her break. When she finally returned to the WTA (Women’s Tennis Association) in 2024, she finished the year 36th in the rankings. But the following year, Anisimova would have one of the best years of her career yet. During Wimbledon, she won against Aryna Sabalenka in the semi-finals. It was her first time making it to a grand slam final. However, she lost 0-6, 0-6 in the finals against Iga Swiatek. A couple of months later, she once again found herself playing in the semi-finals of a grand slam, the US Open to be exact. Here, she faced Naomi Osaka, a former number 1 ranked player and won. During the finals, she faced Aryna Sabalenka again but ultimately lost 6-3, 7-6 (3).

Despite her inability to win a grand slam this year, Anisimova won Qatar Total Energies Open by defeating Jelena Ostapenko. She most recently won the China Open and played against Linda Noskova. After an extremely successful season, Anisimova was able to climb her way to fourth in the WTA ranking, making it her highest career ranking to date.