Last year’s Wimbledon runner-up, Amanda Anisimova, had to dig deep to overcome fellow American Sofia Kenin in a challenging second-round encounter. Following her victory, Anisimova reflected on an unexpected positive in her game while also revealing how she narrowly escaped a potentially serious injury.

“Some moments were really awful. I’m just so happy to be through to the next round”, said Anisimova during her on-court interview. “I never thought I’d be saying this, but thank you for my service today. I’m not like an amazing server, but now I can finally say I can serve pretty good!”

Anisimova is not the best of servers on the tour, as she relies on her world-class backhand more during return games to cause damage to her opponent. However, in the match against Kenin, the placement and accuracy of the American’s serve was off the charts.

The American hit 20 aces in the match, which is the highest she has hit in a single match in her whole career. She hit three of them during the deciding set tiebreak in the third set. She chose the down-the-line serve and executed the serve flawlessly under pressure.

This performance came despite a worrying fall during the match. In the middle of a baseline rally, Amanda Anisimova lost her footing and crashed onto the grass while setting up for her next shot. Fortunately, she was quick to get back on her feet with a smile, reassuring everyone that the tumble had caused no serious harm.

Even though the fall did not cause any distress to the 24-year-old, her opponent’s level of tennis certainly forced Anisimova to work hard for the victory.

Amanda Anisimova Had a Real Battle on Her Hands Against Sofia Kenin

The match started well for Amanda Anisimova, who secured an early break to move 3-1 ahead. Although Sofia Kenin broke back, the sixth seed responded with two more breaks to comfortably claim the opening set 6-2. The momentum shifted in the second set, however, as Kenin repeatedly targeted Anisimova’s second serve. A crucial break in the fifth game helped the 2020 Australian Open champion level the match.

Kenin looked to be in control when she raced to a 3-1 lead in the deciding set, but Anisimova responded by raising her level and breaking back. The set eventually went to a 10-point match tiebreak, where Anisimova took charge. She served exceptionally well, denying Kenin any opportunities on either her first or second serve, before sealing the tiebreak 10-3 to book her place in the third round.

Wimbledon holds both highs and lows for Anisimova. Last year, she reached her maiden Grand Slam final at SW19 before finishing runner-up to Iga Swiątek. This year, she will look to build another deep run, but standing in her way in the third round is fellow American Madison Keys.