Not Coco Gauff nor Madison Keys, the American prospect eyeing a Grand Slam

After more than a decade of domination from Venus and Serena Williams, the number of US grand slam winners hit a lull. There were odd wins for Sloane Stephens and Sofia Kenin but no American winners in 2021 or 2022.

That run was broken by Coco Gauff in late 2023 and Madison Keys began 2025 with a success at the Australian Open. Gauff, still only 20 years old, has been tipped as the great US hope in tennis but there’s another challenger who can compete for titles.

Florida-born Amanda Anisimova was ranked as world No. 2 as a junior and in 2019 became the youngest tournament semi-finalist in more than a decade. She took a break from the game in 2023, citing mental health concerns, but return in 2024 with renewed impetus.

Still only 23 years old, Anisimova could still emerge as one of the world’s top players for the next decade. This week she clinched the biggest title of her career to date, beating Jelena Ostapenko in the Qatar Open final.

That 6-4, 6-3 win at the WTA 100 event is her third WTA Tour-level victory. Speaking after the triumph she admitted that the rapid turnaround between matches had made life difficult .

“Definitely a little scary to go and play after such a quick turnaround. Not testing out the conditions and putting your body through that, it’s like very vulnerable,” she explained.

“With the schedule they have on us, it’s tough. You get fined. Then your ranking gets affected if you skip the big tournaments. We don’t get much of a choice when it comes to that.”

She continued: “Obviously, it’s a good problem to have after a long week. But yeah, it was definitely difficult. But I’m happy with the way that I tried to manage it and tried to put myself out there and still compete.”

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