Amanda Anisimova has “experienced a lot,” but is happy to be where she is today 

NEW YORK—It’s popular these days to tout the concept of “leaning in”—embracing the moment with full engagement, meeting the challenges of life head-on. But there’s also a lot to be said for stepping away.

Amanda Anisimova, the Wimbledon runner-up and No. 8 seed at the US Open, can tell you all about that. In April 2023, the former prodigy's mental health was so perilous she announced that she was suffering from burnout, and taking an indefinite break from tennis. She wrote on social media that "it’s become unbearable being at tennis tournaments." She was 21 at the time.

Anisimova returned to the tour with a ranking of No. 373 in early 2024, and her arc carried her all the way back to No. 7 by July of this year. On Tuesday, the rejuvenated, 5'11" former US Open junior champion with a backhand to die for met 87th-ranked Kimberley Burrell in the first round, and won going away, 6-3, 6-2.

“I thought it was pretty good,” Anisimova said in her post-match press conference. “I mean, I feel like I could have played better, but it wasn't bad, either.”

Anisimova—now 23 but armed with wisdom beyond her years—was wearing a red top with dark maroon skirt that looked identical to the kit she wore in the final of the 2017 junior event. When asked about that yesterday, she smiled and said, “Wow. . .I keep getting asked about the juniors, but it's so far back to even think about.

“But yeah, hopefully the outfit—I mean, there are a few different colors, but if I keep wearing the red, [maybe] I can recreate that moment.”

That moment saw a 16-year-old Anisimova take on a 13-year old eight-grader: Coco Gauff. Anisimova won the first set in 21-minutes, and raced to a 5-2, 40-0 lead in the second to reach match point. Eight more championship points came and went before a Gauff forehand sailed beyond the baseline to finally concede the match.

“That last game was crazy,” Animisova said afterward. “[It was] possibly the longest game of my life.”

Programming note: Anisimova and Coco Gauff are in the same half of the draw, and could meet in the semifinals.

Anisimova's arc includes a number of dramatic turns, on and off the court. Chief among them was the unexpected death, at age 52, of her father and only coach, Konstantin Anisimov.. He passed on August 19, 2019, while Amanda was prepping for the upcoming US Open.

The sudden, gut-wrenching blow proved difficult to digest for the young woman, not least because her life was contained within the safe boundaries of a tennis court. Her vision of the future had always been crystal clear, her ambitions easily defined: "I hope to be No. 1 and win every Grand Slam."

Anisimova had high hopes for that Open, based in part on the way she had powered to the semifinals of the Roland Garros on the strength of quality wins over, among others, Aryna Sabalenka and defending champion Simona Halep. Life was just so good, so simple, before tragedy struck, that before her semifinal meeting with eventual champ Ash Barty, Anisimova said, “I’m not nervous at all. I’m just living life.”

Anisimova withdrew from the 2019 US Open to grieve, then attempted a return on the fall Asian circuit. She abandoned the effort after winning just one match in two tournaments, and pulled the plug on a year that had turned dark by the end of September.

“It was a little too soon [to return],” she told the New York Times in 2020. “It was still pretty hard. I definitely had a lot of emotions I was just trying to keep inside.”

I personally couldn’t be in that environment anymore. I just needed some time away from it.

But Anisimova soldiered on, because she’s a tennis player, and that’s what you do. You try to be No. 1, you try to win Grand Slams. You try to live life in simple terms and stay focused on the task at hand. But she was spinning her wheels, playing well one day, badly the next, her ranking hovering in the No. 20 to 30 range, as she waited for the magic to come back.

The magic didn't return. Instead, the joy and satisfaction she had once taken from the game drained away and her days became a blur of hotel rooms, airport lounges, practice courts and courtesy cars. The last straw was a loss to No. 107 Arantxa Rus in the first round of Madrid in April 2003—a fourth consecutive loss that dropped Anisimova out of the Top 50.

“I personally couldn’t be in that environment anymore,” she told the Charleston Open media team in April of this year. “I just needed some time away from it.”

Now, if not quite suddenly, Anisimova's magic is back. Her success at Wimbledon was a long overdue reward for her fidelity to her profession. Although she was trounced by Swiatek without winning a game in the final, the humility and dignity that radiated from her remarks during the awards ceremony on Centre Court struck a chord with millions of fans.

Anisimova has learned so much about how to handle adversity, how to process her experience with equanimity, that she feels no resentment toward those who ask about struggles—although it does sometimes seem like an endless loop of the same questions.

“I mean, I like to talk about it, and for sure it is special,” she said yesterday. “If I can touch anyone's life in that sense, and if anyone can relate to me in that way, then that makes me very happy.

“It is a very frequent topic, for sure. I'm honored to be able to talk about it, and I try to be as honest as I can.”

Anisimova hasn’t spent an inordinate time thinking about her accomplishments since Wimbledon ended.

“I was processing it, but it's not like I kept looking back at it,” she said. “I was playing some great tennis there. There were a lot of tough matches that I got through, and a very tough battle. So I think just taking certain moments from Wimbledon into here is going to be super important. There were a lot of times where I dug really deep, and I think that's going to be really important for me here.”

There appears to be no bitter residue from the past in Anisimova’s world. She seems far too gentle by nature for a woman who can bring so much heat with her serve and pounds the backhand with the best of them, playing in a sort of cocoon of stillness. She’s become a thoughtful, mellow individual who takes nothing for granted.

“I've definitely experienced a lot,” she said. “And I've had many opportunities, which have been great on the tour, and many memories. I think there were tons of good memories and bad memories, but I think it's all part of the experience. Yeah, it's been a hell of a ride, and I'm just happy to be where I am today.”

Where she is today seems like a very good place for anyone to be.