LONDON — Amanda Anisimova served up three of her 20 aces in the deciding tiebreaker to hold off Sofia Kenin, 6-2, 4-6, 7-6 (3), and reach the third round at Wimbledon on Thursday, when a familiar face visited the All England Club: Kate Middleton, the Princess of Wales.
Anisimova, who was consoled by the princess a year ago after being routed by Iga Swiatek in the final, trailed 3-1 in the third set before she broke back in the sixth game against her fellow American, the 2020 Australian Open champion who is now ranked No. 105.
“Some moments were really awful. I’m just so happy through to the next round,” Anisimova said on the No. 2 Court. “I never thought that I’d be saying this — but thank you to my serve today,” she added. “I’m not an amazing server. Now, I can finally say I can serve pretty good.”
The sixth-seeded Anisimova whacked her racket on her leg at one point in the deciding set.
“I was down 3-1, and I told myself to just keep fighting and this might be your last moments at Wimbledon … just try and maybe have fun and enjoy it,” said Anisimova, who will next face another American, 26th-seeded Madison Keys. “I try to remind myself, just have fun, you are playing at Wimbledon. I do get hard on myself sometimes.”