Anisimova sees dawn of new era in women’s tennis

WUHAN, China: American youngster Amanda Anisimova believes Bianca Andreescu’s US Open victory is the dawn of a new era in women’s tennis, where the teens are ready to conquer.

Canadian 19-year-old Andreescu upset Serena Williams in the final at Flushing Meadows to become the youngest female Grand Slam champion since Svetlana Kuznetsova in 2004.

Anisimova, who turned 18 less than a month ago, joins Andreescu as part of a strong generation of teenagers coming up on tour, and made a splash with her run to the Roland Garros semi-finals in June, where she upset defending champion Simona Halep en route.

The world No 29 withdrew from the US Open due to the sudden death of her father-coach Konstantin Anisimov, but watched from afar as Andreescu blasted through the draw towards the title.

“I don’t think we should be as surprised anymore [by young players winning big titles],” said Anisimova, who enjoyed a winning return following a seven-week absence from the tour by defeating Guangzhou runner-up Sam Stosur 6-3, 3-6, 6-3 in the Wuhan Open first round on Monday.

“I feel like there are so many upcoming players and they’re all doing really well.” Anisimova, who next takes on world number two Karolina Pliskova, feels ready to make her own statement at the majors, and has her eye on next January’s Australian Open, where she hopes to do better than her fourth-round appearance there this year. “Oh yes, for sure, I think I can do pretty well there, especially if I have a good pre-season,” said the New Jersey-born player.