Amanda Anisimova: Five Things To Know About American Tennis Sensation

Amanda Anisimova had a huge breakthrough at the 2019 French Open on Thursday, upsetting defending champion Simona Halep to reach the semifinal. The 17-year-old will face Ashleigh Barty in the semifinal on Friday.

Anisimova’s shocking ascent to relevance in women’s tennis has come incredibly quickly. Here is everything you need to know about her as she looks to make history in Paris.

She is from New Jersey

Anisimova was born in Freehold Township, New Jersey on August 31, 2001 to her parents Olga and Konstantin. Her older sister Maria played college tennis at Penn. Amanda began playing tennis at two years old.

Her parents emigrated from Russia

Anisimova’s parents emigrated from Russia in 1998, a few years before she was born in 2001. They later moved to Florida to join many other players who live and train there. Despite her heritage Anisimova has never visited Russia.

She has two big wins to her name

Anisimova won her first WTA event in April at the Copa Colsanitas in Bogota, Colombia. Prior to that, the biggest win on her resume was the 2017 Junior U.S. Open, where she beat fellow American Cori Gauff 6-0, 6-2.

She has already made history

By advancing to the semifinals of the French Open, she became the first player born in the 2000s to reach a Grand Slam semifinal. At 17 years and 10 months old, she is also the youngest American to a Grand Slam semifinal since Venus Williams did it at the 1997 U.S. Open when she was 17 years and two months old.

She’s documenting her world travels on Instagram

Anisimova is clearly enjoying all the travel she gets to do during her tennis career. She’s documenting all the amazing places she gets to go on her Instagram feed.