Anisimova digs deep to topple Swiatek in Riyadh thriller
Amid the high-stakes tension of the WTA Finals round-robin, Amanda Anisimova channeled her season's breakthroughs to outlast Iga Swiatek in a grueling three-setter, clinching a semifinal clash with Elena Rybakina.
In the packed King Saud University Indoor Arena in Riyadh, the Serena Williams Group at the WTA Finals narrowed to a single, defining confrontation on Wednesday evening. No. 4 seed Amanda Anisimova, the tournament's unexpected qualifier from outside the top 20 earlier in the year, met No. 2 Iga Swiatek with everything on the line for the final semifinal spot. Elena Rybakina had already secured the group's top position with her 6-4, 6-4 dispatch of Ekaterina Alexandrova, leaving this matchup as pure winner-take-all under the arena's bright lights, where the fast indoor hard courts amplified every baseline exchange.
Round-robin stakes fuel early deadlock
The psychological weight of the round-robin format hung heavy, with its intricate tiebreakers often turning matches into mental marathons, but here the math simplified to survival. Anisimova arrived with a season of upsets against the elite, including victories over Aryna Sabalenka, Coco Gauff, and a prior 6-4, 6-3 quarterfinal win against Swiatek at the US Open, balancing the scar of her 6-0, 6-0 Wimbledon final loss to the Pole. Over the first 59 minutes, neither yielded ground, holding serve 12 straight times on the quick surface, where Anisimova's flat groundstrokes redirected Swiatek's topspin with crosscourt precision while facing zero break points herself.
Swiatek, under mounting pressure, saved four break chances, including two at 5-all, her deep returns and one–two combinations keeping rallies alive amid the crowd's rising murmurs. The indoor air thickened with tension as the set pushed to a tiebreak, Anisimova's serve proving a reliable anchor against Swiatek's aggressive returns. This unyielding start highlighted the American's growth, her career-high No. 4 ranking backed by 10 top-10 wins in 2025 alone, eclipsing her previous total of eight and fueling her composure in the face of elimination.
“Honestly,” she said, “I did everything I could today, so like no regrets. I felt like I was really in the zone, positive mindset. I fought and really didn’t give up -- it wasn’t enough, which makes me sad. I don’t know, maybe I can find some understanding … when you do everything and it’s still not enough, I guess it means you just need to get your tennis better.”
Tiebreak surge shifts the momentum
The first 23 games produced no breaks, a rarity on the pacey hard courts that rewarded first-strike aggression, but the tiebreak exposed the first cracks. From 1-all, Swiatek fired three straight winners, her inside-out forehand exploiting the surface's speed to build a 4-1 lead that Anisimova couldn't overcome, a long forehand drawing an anguished groan from the American as the set fell 7-6 (3). Yet this setback ignited a tactical response; in the second set, Anisimova varied her backhand with occasional underspin to disrupt Swiatek's rhythm, pressuring the baseline with deeper crosscourt drives.
At 5-4, the breakthrough came as Swiatek's serve wavered in a prolonged rally, Anisimova's down-the-line backhand sealing the 6-4 set and evening the match after two hours of tension. The crowd's energy surged with the shift, the arena's echoes amplifying each point's import on a surface that favored Anisimova's flatter trajectories over heavy spin. This pivot mirrored her season's resilience, turning historical defeats into fuel for present dominance.
Decider exposes Swiatek's rare vulnerability
In the third set, Swiatek's resolve flickered but held early, saving two break points in each of her opening service games with looping topspin that countered the low bounces. A double fault on the third opportunity at 2-1 gifted Anisimova a 3-1 lead, a gap that loomed large in the match's tight confines, where the American's clutch serving and inside-in forehands opened the court. She threaded backhand winners crosscourt to exploit gaps, finishing with 107 points to Swiatek's 103 and over 40 winners—the most in a WTA Finals match since Caroline Garcia's 42 against Daria Kasatkina in 2022.
This triumph marked the first time Swiatek dropped consecutive matches after capturing the opening set, her post-match reflection revealing the emotional toll of near-perfection. Anisimova, now leading their head-to-head 2-1, eased to a 6-2 close in the 2-hour, 36-minute epic, the longest of the week, her mental edge transforming round-robin pressure into semifinal certainty. As she and Rybakina await Friday's opponents from the Stefanie Graf Group's Thursday matches, the American's improbable run promises more tactical intrigue on these swift courts, where her aggressive patterns could carry her deeper into the championship.
