Anisimova’s teen spirit stuns Halep
Print Edition
American teenager Amanda Anisimova stunned defending champion Simona Halep yesterday to reach a French Open semifinal against Australian eighth seed Ashleigh Barty.
The 17-year-old downed Romanian star Halep 6-2, 6-4 on Court Philippe Chatrier, while Barty saw off 14th seed Madison Keys 6-3, 7-5 to also become a first-time Grand Slam semifinalist.
The last-four ties will be played today after Wednesday’s downpour in Paris caused a backlog of matches.
“This is more than I could have asked for,” said Anisimova, who is the youngest player to reach a major semifinal since Czech Nicole Vaidisova at the 2007 Australian Open.
She is also the youngest American woman to make the last four at a major since Venus Williams at the 1997 US Open, and the youngest to reach the semis at Roland Garros since Jennifer Capriati in 1990.
“I knew if I wanted to win today I would have to do something different because it wasn’t going to be easy,” Anisimova added. “I’m really happy with the performance because it’s one of the best matches I’ve ever played.”
The winner of Anisimova’s clash against Barty will face either Britain’s Johanna Konta or Czech 19-year-old Marketa Vondrousova in the final.
It is the first time two teenagers have reached the semifinal at a Grand Slam for 10 years, while it had not happened at Roland Garros since Henin and Kim Clijsters in 2001.
Barty also won in relative comfort on Court Suzanne Lenglen to go one better than her run to the Australian Open last eight earlier this year. The 23-year-old was too consistent for American Keys, hitting 16 winners and four aces.
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