LONDON :Amanda Anisimova ended Linda Noskova’s hopes of completing a ‘Czech three-peat’ at Wimbledon on Sunday after the American 13th seed whipped out her A-game to end her rival’s barnstorming run with a 6-2 5-7 6-4 victory to reach the quarter-finals.
After Marketa Vondrousova’s and Barbora Krejcikova’s unexpected triumphs at the All England Club over the past two years, 30th seed Noskova would have harboured hopes of following in their footsteps, especially as she was the last Czech standing among the eight who had started in the women’s draw.
It took Anisimova more than two heart-pounding hours on Court One to finally crush Noskova’s assault, after fighting back from 3-1 down in the deciding set – with one of the American’s rackets feeling the full force of her frustration.
“It was an incredibly tough match, Linda was really pushing me there. Wasn’t sure if I was going to make it to the finishing line but it was a great experience playing for the first time on this court,” said Anisimova, who took an eight-month break from the sport two years ago after complaining of burnout.
“I was getting so stressed out, I was just really trying to keep my nerves at bay and my team just told me to keep believing in myself.
“It’s amazing to be back in the quarter-finals, I am so excited and proud of myself,” added the 23-year-old, who will next meet Russia’s Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova.
The early signs had suggested that Anisimova, born in New Jersey to Russian immigrants, would enjoy a gentle workout as she looked to reach the Wimbledon quarters for a second time.
She wasted little time in exposing Noskova’s lack of grasscourt craft as she broke the 30th seed for a 2-0 lead with some crisp hitting from the baseline and again in the eighth game to capture the first set with a scorching forehand winner.
Played under a closed roof on a soggy day at Wimbledon, the contest failed to catch fire during the opening set as the majority of ticket holders in the 12,000-capacity arena had abandoned their seats following British hope Cameron Norrie’s nerve-jangling 4-1/2 hour win over Nicolas Jarry.
The smattering of spectators who did stick around saw Noskova, who had won only one match at Wimbledon before this week, find her comfort zone in the floodlit arena in the second set as she broke for a 2-1 lead.
The 20-year-old missed her chance to level the match when she served at 5-4, with Anisimova saving a set point with a mis-hit service return winner en route to grabbing the break back to level at 5-5.
Noskova did not dwell on that near-miss and she broke again for a 6-5 lead before making sure her opponent did not get a look-in on her next set point, firing down an ace to seal it.
Anisimova looked to be on her way out when she fell behind 3-1 in the deciding set but, with her support team urging her to “keep on believing”, she fought back to 3-3 before eventually ending the tussle on her second match point with a backhand winner.
