Amanda Anisimova
The 20-year old has pledged to donate tournament earnings for relief efforts in Ukraine
Amanda Anisimova is one of the top emerging stars in the WTA circuit. She turned Pro in 2016. Her first professional tournament was the US Open as a 15-year old when she received a wild card entry to the qualifying phase of the Grand Slam. Anisimova is currently ranked 40 in the world but has reached as high as 21. The American has never fallen out of the top 100 ever since she turned 17.
Anisimova has won 2 WTA titles in her senior professional career. Her best finish at a Grand Slam is a semi-final appearance in the 2019 French Open. Anisimova won her first WTA career title at the 2019 Copa Colsanitas and won her second title in January this year – the Melbourne Summer Set 2022.
Anisimova has made herself quite a name as the giant-killer. Her first victory against a top-10 player was in Indian Wells 2018 where she defeated Petra Kvitova at the age of 16. At the Australian Open in 2019 she defeated world no. 11 Aryna Sabalenka, one of the leading contenders for the title. In the French Open the same year, she defeated the defending champion and World No. 3, Simona Halep to become the youngest semi-finalist at the tournament in over a decade.
The exhibition tournament had the participation of many top players who engaged in an entertaining knockout draw. Anisimova defeated Osaka, Paula Badosa and Maria Sakkari to clinch the title. Anisimova participated in the competition as a late replacement of Barbora Krejcikova who was forced to withdraw due to an elbow injury. Anisimova will start her Indian Wells Masters campaign against Emma Navarro in the Round of 128.
Amanda Anisimova has pledged to partly donate the winnings from the tournament for relief efforts in Ukraine. Anisimova, born to Russian parents has won US$ 150,000 for winning the tournament. In her post-match speech she opened up on the Ukraine crisis. The American said, “Everyday is extremely sad. We are here and enjoying but it’s very hard to just live normally. I’ll definitely donate some of my prize money to the Ukrainian relief fund.”
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