Follow us on Google Discover Amanda Anisimova has been keeping a low profile after winning the China Open, choosing to skip the rest of the Asian swing and prepare for the WTA Finals.
Anisimova was praised by Coco Gauff after thrashing her in under an hour in the semifinal before beating Linda Noskova in the final to claim the first prize.
Anisimova could have a big say in the WTA Finals and after a brilliant second half of the year, she will go into the tournament heavily fancied.
Anisimova has changed her game a lot this year to enjoy a meteoric rise up the rankings, and she reached the finals at both Wimbledon and the US Open.
Anisimova has the world on the end of her racket, it would seem at the moment, and given her current form on the WTA Tour, she might take some stopping at the WTA Finals.
Photo by Lintao Zhang/Getty ImagesRennae Stubbs thinks Mirra Andreeva should copy Amanda Anisimova
Anisimova is not only a brilliant tennis player but she’s also proving to be an inspiration to other players on the tour, given what she’s managed to achieve.
In 2023, Anisimova took some time out and didn’t play in a single Grand Slam from the Australian Open all the way through to the same event the following year.
Stubbs believes that someone like Mirra Andreeva, who left the court in tears during her last match, could be wise to take some inspiration from Anisimova in the future.
Speaking of her rise up the rankings, she said on The Rennae Stubbs Tennis Podcast: “Amanda Anisimova, talk about someone who has said if I don’t want to play (I won’t). She wins the tournament in China and then goes home.
“She doesn’t stay out there and keep playing and play the next week. She just goes home. She has understood that if I am not mentally there, I don’t want to play.
“I will take eight to nine months off the Tour if I feel like I am not emotionally able to handle this.
“I think that’s a great lesson for everyone out there, particularly the young players. Mirra Andreeva could be one. To say I don’t feel like playing for a couple of months. I have millions of dollars in the bank, I know how good I am, but I’m not going to be my best if I’m not ready to go and grind to win a WTA 1000 or 500 tournament, having to play against the best players in the world from the start of the tournament.
“I think Amanda Anisimova, just like Ash Barty did a number of years ago, stopping for a couple of years. Find your inner peace and inner strength to want to be out there and grind, because you are too good to be losing first and second round because you don’t want to be there. So don’t play.
“Then decided I am going to play because I want to win the tournament. That is what Amanda Anisimova has done this whole year. She has been coming back last year and establishing herself as one of the best players in the world, and we all know when she is at her best, she can beat anybody. Nobody hits the ball more pure than anybody.
“But if she is not emotionally ready, she does not play, and I think that’s a really smart idea.”
Sam Querrey backs Amanda Anisimova to win WTA Finals
Anisimova has overcome Aryna Sabalenka, Gauff and Iga Swiatek in the second half of 2025, and that certainly bodes well when it comes to the end-of-year event.
It would appear that her form against the top players in the world has prompted her to get a number of picks from former professionals to win the WTA Finals.
Querrey said on the Nothing Major podcast: “Give me the girl who I can’t pronounce the name correctly. Amanda Anisimova. I think I said it right that time. No, I think she’s going to win it. I think she’s playing the best right now. That’s my pick anyway.”
Anisimova will hope to claim success in the WTA Finals and then take momentum into the Australian Open, where she will look to get over the line and claim a maiden Grand Slam crown.