Emma Raducanu vs. Amanda Anisimova: Match Preview
Similarities abound in the careers of the 23-year-old American and the 22-year-old Brit. They both jumped out of the gate with stunning early Grand Slam breakthroughs. In 2019, Anisimova reached the semifinals at Roland Garros at 17. In 2021, Raducanu went her two rounds better when she won the US Open at 18.
For a while, though, it was all downhill from there for both women. Injuries, coaching changes, burnout, blown leads, crises of confidence, ranking drops: Anisimova and Raducanu had more than their share of all of them, to the point where it looked like neither would fulfill their early promise.
But in 2025, both have begun to turn the corner and find their best games again. Raducanu has risen 28 spots in the rankings, from 61 to 33, and just made the semifinals in D.C. Anisimova has moved even higher, faster: No. 41 in February, she’s ranked a career-high No. 7 now. And she finally surpassed her 17-year-old self by making the Wimbledon final. (We won’t go into what happened there.)
The two have played twice. Both matches were this year, on hard courts at the Australian Open and Miami. Somewhat surprisingly, at least to me, Raducanu won in straight sets both times.
I would have thought this matchup would favor Anisimova’s superior baseline power, and that Raducanu’s ground strokes would feed into Anisimova’s. In reality, Raducanu has been the more proactive player of the two in both of their meetings, attacking Anisimova’s second serves and using her speed to successfully counterpunch in rallies.
I wondered how Anisimova would look after her double-bagel loss at Wimbledon, but she seemed fine in her Montreal opener. I also wondered if Raducanu would have a letdown after a hot week in D.C., but she looked good, too. Maybe the difference in this one will be motivation. No. 7 can’t lose to No. 33 three times in one season, can she? Winner: Anisimova