The 28 ranked player, Amanda Anisimova, advanced through the second round of US Open 2020 as she defeated Katrina Scott in sets of 6-4, 4-6, 1-6. The 22nd seed is the highest-ranked teenager in the 2020 draw.

Anisimova did not have a strong start at the beginning of the year. The French Open semifinalist lost in the first round of this year’s Australian Open. Last week, she lost in the second round of Cincinnati.

On Thursday, her opponent’s consistency made it challenging for Amanda. However, she managed to give a tough fight. With a break in the first game of the final set, the 2017 US Open Junior Champion ascended to the third round of the American Grand Slam.

At the end of the match, Anisimova looked up to the sky and blew a kiss. She was giving a tribute to her late father. And her second round roller-coaster win was all because of her late father’s memories.

“I was just thinking of my dad the whole time and I didn’t want to lose without putting up a fight,” Amanda Anisimova said after recovering from a set down to beat Katrina Scott and reach R3. Her father passed away just before last year’s US Open.

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Her late father and former coach, Konstantin Anisimova, had passed away a week before Amanda’s 18th birthday in 2019.

After the game, Anisimova praised Katrina as well. In a post-match interview she said, “She was playing amazing—not that I was having a bad day. I’m extremely happy, not just with my win, but how I came back.”

Anisimova will face Maria Sakkari in the third round. Sakkari made headlines recently as she defeated tennis legend, Serena Williams, at the Cincinnati Open last week.

All players are playing US Open 2020 in a crowd-less setting in the USTA Billie Jean King Tennis Centre amid the Coronavirus pandemic.