Amanda Anisimova sends a statement in Melbourne, overwhelms Stearns and marches into Round of 16

Amanda Anisimova continues her remarkable campaign at the Australian Open and shows she is a contender after an impressive victory over her compatriot Peyton Stearns, 6-1, 6-4, in just over one hour and ten minutes of play.

The world No. 4 reaches her 11th win in her last 17 Grand Slam matches – after reaching back-to-back finals at Wimbledon and the US Open. This time, for the fourth consecutive major, she reaches the fourth round.

Anisimova had previously reached the fourth round at Melbourne Park on three occasions: 2019, 2022, and 2024 – but in none of them did she manage to reach the quarterfinals. On Sunday, she will have the opportunity to set her best Australian Open mark when she faces the winner between Linda Noskova (13th seed) and Xinyu Wang.

It was a day that started without complications for the two-time Grand Slam finalist, who began serving and quickly saved a break point against her. In the next game, she immediately secured the first break and within minutes had taken the lead to 3-0. Stearns had already faced a couple of break points but had not taken advantage of them against her opponent’s impeccable first serves.

Stearns responded by holding a service game for the first time, reducing the score to 1-3. However, Anisimova maintained her momentum, showing great effectiveness on her first serve (79% compared to just 50% for Stearns), and dominated the rallies, particularly exploiting Stearns’ forehand, which could not match her rival’s power. She secured the third break and comfortably took the set 6-1. Errors were frequent on both sides – adding up to 25 unforced errors combined, with only 8 winners.

The rhythm remained the same at the start of the second set, after an early break by Anisimova and a service game without trouble that put her 2-0 ahead. The 24-year-old played more aggressively than her opponent and began hitting winners, while Stearns looked particularly vulnerable with a first-serve percentage barely above 50%, and only 20% of points won on the second serve.

Anisimova extended her lead further with a double break and prepared to serve at 4-1. It seemed only a matter of time to close the match, but both players entered a stretch of service irregularities. There were two consecutive breaks for each player, with Stearns saving a match point at 2-5 (with Anisimova serving) and bringing it back to 4-5.

For the second time, Anisimova had the chance to serve for the win, and this time she did not hesitate, chaining strong first serves that secured her victory 6-1, 6-4.

The world No. 4 advances to the Round of 16, where she will face either 13th seed Linda Noskova or Xinyu Wang from China – who will meet on Saturday afternoon, January 24. Meanwhile, Anisimova gains an advantage over Coco Gauff in the live rankings and currently sits as world No. 3 and America’s No. 1 – in a close race with Coco for a place on the WTA podium.