Amanda Anisimova did not have her cleanest afternoon at Wimbledon, but she had a weapon that got her through it. Pushed hard by her compatriot Sofia Kenin, the American relied on a powerful serve — 20 aces across the match — to come through 6-2, 4-6, and a deciding-set tiebreak, and into the third round.
A serve that bailed her out
Anisimova took the opening set comfortably before Kenin, a former Grand Slam champion, hit back to level the match and drag it into a decider. When the third set went the distance, it was Anisimova's serve that made the difference, ESPN reported — including several of her 20 aces in the closing tiebreak, when the margin for error was smallest.
The comeback fit a pattern that has defined Anisimova's better days: when her groundstrokes waver, the serve can carry her, providing free points at exactly the moments a match threatens to slip away. Afterward she credited that serve directly for the win, as reported in coverage of the match.
The bigger picture at the top
Elsewhere in the women's draw, the tournament's leading names largely held firm. Iga Swiatek, the defending champion, advanced with a brisk straight-sets win over Karolina Pliskova, a display of the efficiency that makes her one of the favorites to lift the title again.
For Anisimova, whose talent has never been in doubt but whose career has been marked by ups and downs, a scrappy win over a dangerous opponent is a useful thing to have banked. Grand Slam runs are built as much on surviving the difficult days as on dominating the easy ones.
What comes next
Anisimova now moves deeper into the second week's reckoning with a third-round match to come. On the evidence of the Kenin match, her level may need to rise if she is to trouble the very best — but a player who can produce 20 aces when she needs them is never short of a way to stay in a contest.
For now, the takeaway is simple: a top American through to the next round at Wimbledon, having found a way to win on a day when winning was not straightforward. In a sport where the serve is often the difference between going home and going through, Anisimova's did its job.
