Amanda Anisimova will be aiming for a strong performance at the Australian Open after impressing at recent Grand Slam tournaments.
Anisimova faces Simona Waltert in the first round of the Australian Open, where she is seeded fourth.
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The American reached the final of her last two Grand Slam appearances, at Wimbledon and the US Open.
Anisimova lost in the final of the first against Iga Swiatek, and suffered the same fate in the second against Aryna Sabalenka.
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Rennae Stubbs backs Amanda Anisimova for Grand Slam success
Former player Rennae Stubbs has now discussed the world number four ahead of the Australian Open, saying about her podcast: “I said Amanda…I feel like she’s going to win a major title this year. I don’t know where it’s going to be, but I suspect she can win on any surface.
“She obviously reached the Wimbledon final, she reached the US Open final. But she reached the semi-finals at Roland Garros. So she’s a player who can play on any surface.
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“So I think Amanda will win a major tournament, if not this next year. She hasn’t had a good preparation. She hasn’t had a few good matches up front here, but sometimes it doesn’t take much time for her to get back to her best form.
“And she’s at the top of that section of the draw, so I think she’s my pick to advance to the quarterfinals.”
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Andrea Petkovic says Amanda Anisimova can ‘beat anyone’
The Australian Open is Anisimova’s worst Grand Slam tournament in history, with the American failing to advance past the fourth round.
But another former player, Andrea Petkovic, was impressed by what she saw from her, particularly in her practice match against fellow American McCartney Kessler.
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She responded to Stubbs: “Good. I like that, because yesterday what you just said, I think it’s a good point that you make because she was playing McCartney Kessler at the Rod Laver Arena and she wasn’t playing well.
“You could just see that she wasn’t feeling the ball yet. And in the second set, there was a moment where she was down 3-6, it was 3-3 in two, and her face just changed.
“It was all of a sudden that Amanda Anisimova faced the game, and she ran away with the next three games 6-3 in the blink of an eye, then lost in a tie-break. Obviously, there is no tie-break as a third set in the real deal.
“So I think if she can find that game attitude, you know it’s the inner position of ‘I’m not going to complain about what’s happening, I’m not going to complain about the conditions, I’m just going to settle down and do this thing,’ then she can and will beat anyone.”
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Anisimova enters the Australian Open after playing at the Brisbane International, where she defeated Kimberly Birrell before losing to Marta Kostyuk in the round of 16.
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