“Most special day of my career” – Anisimova topples Gauff to reach last 16 at Wimbledon

No 20 seed Amanda Anisimova advanced to the last 16 of Wimbledon by winning against No 11 seed Coco Gauff 6-7 (4), 6-2, 6-1 in a rematch of the 2017 US Open girls singles final on Centre Court.

Anisimova, ranked No 25, will face Frenchwoman Harmony Tan next.

“Playing on Centre Court, this is he most special day I think of my career,” she said. “It’ just a huge privilege to be on this court. I was so excited and playing Coco, she’s an amazing player and just got to the finals of a Grand Slam. So before the match, I was just trying to prepare myself to really soak in this moment whether I win or lose. 

“Winning today is just so special and I’m very grateful for this experience, especially in front of a full crowd.”

Down early, but finished strong

In her second tour-level meeting with Gauff, Anisimova fell behind 3-0 in the opening set but found her way back, eventually forcing a tiebreak. But it was Gauff who took the lead by winning the final six points of the first-set breaker.

“For sure. I think the worst thing for tennis players is to lose 7-6 in the first,” Anisimova said.

But the 20-year-old, who improves to 7-6 against the top-20 with her win, rebounded quickly to win 12 of the final 15 games down the stretch.

“I had the same experience at French Open, and I think from experience, it’s really important to just bounce back and give everything I have, but most importantly, it was very easy to do especially on this court,” she said.

“Even though it was extremely exhausting. I still pushed through and I’m just so happy to be able to play here today and to get this win.”

London (Grand Slam), other third-round results (All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club, grass, GBP 40.350.000, most recent results first):

• Paula Badosa vs. Petra Kvitova
• Iga Swiatek vs. Alize Cornet
• Petra Martic vs. Jessica Pegula
• Qinwen Zheng vs. Elena Rybakina: saturday
• Magdalena Frech vs. Simona Halep: saturday
• Harmony Tan beat Katie Boulter (WC): 6-1, 6-1
• Ajla Tomljanovic beat Barbora Krejcikova (13): 2-6, 6-4, 6-3
• Caroline Garcia beat Shuai Zhang (33): 7-6 (3), 7-6 (5)
• Marie Bouzkova beat Alison Riske (28): 6-2, 6-3
• Elise Mertens (24) beat Angelique Kerber (15): 6-4, 7-5
• Tatjana Maria beat Maria Sakkari (5): 6-3, 7-5
• Ons Jabeur (3) beat Diane Parry: 6-2, 6-3
• Heather Watson beat Kaja Juvan: 7-6 (6), 6-2
• Jule Niemeier beat Lesia Tsurenko: 6-4, 3-6, 6-3
• Jelena Ostapenko (12) beat Irina-Camelia Begu: 3-6, 6-1, 6-1

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