Amanda Anisimova began her Wimbledon redemption tour with a convincing 6-3, 6-2 victory over Lina Gjorcheska of North Macedonia on Tuesday, but eighth seed Elina Svitolina suffered a surprise exit, losing 5-7, 2-6 to fellow Ukrainian Daria Snigur.
Anisimova shakes off last year's final loss
Twelve months ago, Anisimova beat Aryna Sabalenka to reach her first grand slam final only to crumble, losing 6-0, 6-0 to Iga Swiatek in one of the most one-sided finals in Wimbledon history. However, she bounced back immediately, beating Swiatek on her way to the US Open final, where Sabalenka defeated her in a tight two-setter. On Tuesday, playing on Court No 2 rather than Centre Court, Anisimova enjoyed her return, perhaps erasing some of last year's pain.
“It was a year ago, so it’s not like I started playing this match thinking about the final or anything last year,” she said. “I stepped out and I was really excited to play, feeling really good. So I just wanted to see where my level is at and challenge myself out there, try to play my game and do all the things that I have been doing in practice.”
Anisimova thrives on bigger stages
Anisimova expressed confidence in her ability to perform on the sport's biggest courts. “Court No 2 isn’t such a small court. I mean, still, it’s a big stadium. [But] hopefully I will be playing on Centre Court again this week, because I feel like I thrive and play my best tennis on the bigger courts,” she added.
The American said she felt refreshed after a short break, having been left exhausted by the previous couple of months when she returned to the Tour after a wrist injury that forced her to miss the Masters clay-court events in Madrid and Rome. “Feeling like I’m in a much better place now,” she said. “I think the last two months really took a lot out of me, and just the start of the year, it wasn’t the best way to start things out. It was definitely a bit of a strange experience, having to train and train and not knowing if I’m ready to play the tournaments. I was also working hard and doing my best and I think I just got a bit tired at the end of that.”
Rybakina survives scare, Keys battles through
Elena Rybakina, the 2022 champion, survived a horrific second set to beat France's Loïs Boisson 6-4, 1-6, 6-3. “She was playing quite high, I would say, for grass court,” Rybakina said. “For me, it was difficult to actually adjust to these higher balls. And then getting short slices was a bit challenging. In the end, I’m happy that I managed to win it. Definitely will need to work more on these kind of things. Serve was working on and off. The percentage I would love to have higher, but this is something for me also to improve for the next matches.”
Madison Keys, who won her first grand slam title in Australia last year, also had to battle, coming back from a set down to beat America's Kayla Day 6-7 (5), 6-4, 6-3. Jasmine Paolini, the runner-up two years ago, called it her best match of the year after she recovered from a first-set bagel to beat American Robin Montgomery.
Svitolina and Vekic suffer early exits
There was a shock defeat for an out-of-sorts Elina Svitolina, the No 8 seed going out 7-5, 6-2 to her fellow Ukrainian Daria Snigur, the world No 77. Donna Vekic, the winner at Queen's, also suffered a shock defeat, beaten 3-6, 7-6 (3), 6-4 by American Ashlyn Krueger.
