Amanda Anisimova was on a roll last season. After reaching back-to-back major finals last year at Wimbledon and the US Open, she even climbed to a career-high world No. 3 earlier this week. Surpassing Coco Gauff as the new American No.1, she kicked off her Brisbane campaign. But all came crashing down as she took on Marta Kostyuk.

Marta Kostyuk restricted Anisimova from having a dream run as she ousted her 6-4, 6-3 on Thursday to reach the round of 16. The Ukrainian took just one hour and 27 minutes to finish the job.

Anisimova wasn’t in her best form to begin with. She fought through visible discomfort but couldn’t find her rhythm against the sharp and steady world No. 26. Kostyuk controlled the rallies, dictated play, and closed out both sets with authority to seal a confident straight-sets win.

While trailing 2-3 in the first set, she called for a medical timeout. She stepped off the court for treatment on her right thigh, leaving the crowd wondering if she could continue. When she returned, the top-ranked American chose to fight on instead of retiring. But the injury clearly limited her movement. The struggle to regain rhythm gave Kostyuk a rare opening, and she grabbed it with both hands.

From that point, the 23-year-old Ukrainian was rock solid. She dictated the pace, stayed consistent, and found her shots with sharp precision. Against the world No. 3, it was a composed, confident performance from a player who looked ready for much bigger stages.

While her campaign ended sooner than expected, Kostyuk had nothing but praise for her.

Amanda Anisimova’s opponent was left in awe of her grit

After her win, the Ukrainian opened up about the kind of opponent Amanda is. She admitted that she knew what to expect since they had already competed during practice together, during which Marta lost. But when it comes to the real deal, Anisimova’s skill took the spotlight.

“I think I played really, really good, and you know, we did an amazing preparation with my team,” Kostyuk said after the win. “And, yeah, I mean, it was a great match, and I feel like, also, tactically, I played really good. Amanda is such a hard hitter. It’s really difficult to create something in the point, but very happy I managed to do that today, and yeah, it was a good match.”

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Despite the early exit, Anisimova had a strong start to the 2026 season.

After overtaking Gauff, she became the new American No. 1 and only the third woman born in the 2000s, along with Gauff and Iga Swiatek, to break into the world’s top three. She’s also the 15th American to reach that ranking landmark since the WTA introduced official standings in 1975.

“It was a great year for me. I was really happy with my consistency throughout, and I feel like I had a lot of new experiences and a lot of lessons learned to go into this year,” Anisimova said before her 2026 debut in Brisbane. “Yeah, just taking those with me and really looking forward to it.”

With the Australian Open just around the corner, she’ll be eager to recover, regroup, and return to form. Last year, she made it to the second round before falling to Emma Raducanu, but since then, she’s been in two major finals. As we await updates on her fitness, it is fair to assume that Amanda will be hell bent on tackling all challenges to get a Grand Slam win in her bag this season.

What do you think? Will Amanda bounce back stronger? Drop your thoughts in the comments!