By Shrivathsa Sridhar
NEW YORK (Reuters) -Amanda Anisimova rallied from a set down to defeat four-times Grand Slam champion Naomi Osaka 6-7(4) 7-6(3) 6-3 on Thursday and reach the U.S. Open final, where she will take on holder Aryna Sabalenka for another shot at a maiden major crown.
“Oh my God. It means the world,” the 24-year-old said after reaching her first final at Flushing Meadows.
“I’m trying to process that right now. It’s absolutely a dream come true. This has been a dream of mine like forever to be in the U.S. Open final and the hope is to be the champion.”
Twice New York champion Osaka was playing in her first major semi-final since 2021 and embraced the big occasion in the prime-time glare of Arthur Ashe Stadium.
The pair twice traded breaks in a tight opening set, and after a delayed line call by the automated system disrupted play Osaka refocused and let out a big roar when Anisimova hit a shot into the net on set point in the tiebreak.
The 23rd seed struggled to carry the momentum forward in the next set, however, with Anisimova matching Osaka’s intensity.
After the players traded ferocious hits for 12 games in the next set, Anisimova pounced in the tiebreak to drag the match to a decider.
The eighth seed, who lost 6-0 6-0 to Iga Swiatek in the Wimbledon final two months ago, surged ahead 4-1 thanks to a forehand winner and held her nerve from there to close out the victory and reach back-to-back Grand Slam finals.
“She was really giving me a run for the final. I wasn’t sure I would make past the finish line. I tried to dig deep. It was a huge fight out there,” Anisimova added.
“I tried to stay positive. There was a lot of nerves in the beginning and that’s something I’m trying to work on. Yeah, this tournament means so much to me that I think that was really getting to me.
“In the end, you’re just trying to fight your way through. I’m trying to enjoy the moment. We were both playing amazing tennis, and sometimes that was like ‘how are we making these shots?’ but we were and we just kept going.”
(Reporting by Shrivathsa Sridhar in New York; Editing by Peter Rutherford)
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