"The way her season came together from the summer onwards was just incredible" - Sky Sports pundits laud 'brilliant' Anisimova after fantastic year

Amanda Anisimova's rise to competing with the best players in the world in 2025 was not on many fans' bingo card. The American breached the odds to become one of the best players in tennis, a story Tim Henman and Laura Robson are in awe of.

The American has struggled to get to the big time in tennis after such a promising youth career. This was proven by a majestic Roland Garros semi-final run back in 2019. However, years of struggling on court forced her away from the sport. However, it has seemed to have finally clicked in 2025.

She started the year as world number 36, not even seeded for Grand Slam events. A large part of that ranking was due to a Canadian Open final appearance just a few months beforehand. She did lose to the imperious Jessica Pegula, but it was a promising sign of things to come. It would not be long until she clinched her maiden WTA 1000 title in the Qatar Open. She defeated Jelena Ostapenko in straight sets for a marvellous victory.

She would continue to progress steadily throughout the campaign, reaching the final at Queens. It was the first time in 52 years that a women's event was held at the event, but the 24-year-old was defeated by Tatjana Maria who took the tennis world by storm with a huge victory.

As Wimbledon came and went, she made her name a firm taking point in the tennis world. It was for good reasons as she fended off her opponents to reach a surprising final. She beat the world number one Aryna Sabalenka enroute to a maiden Grand Slam final, but was unable to even pick up a game against a ruthless Iga Swiatek who sprant to the title in emphatic style. While this was disappointing, she kept her head held high and backed it up with a consecutive major final, this time in her home event. It was sweet revenge for Anisimova as she dumped out Swiatek in the quarter-finals. However, defending champion Aryna Sabalenka proved too strong as she clinched her fourth Grand Slam.

Once more, she would react to this bitter disappointment with good spirit, coming out in top in the China Open against Linda Noskova. She subsequently qualified for the WTA Finals for the first time, making it out the group before Elena Rybakina began her off-season earlier than she would have liked.

Robson was certainly impressed by the form of Anisimova. When asked if she was the surprise package of the season, it was hard for her to go for anyone else, touching on her incredible mentality.

"If we're going to talk about people going 'bam', I think we have to talk about Anisimova with back-to-back Slam finals," Robson stated. "The way her season came together from the summer onwards was just incredible. She recovered from love, love in a Wimbledon final to then back it up and make the US Open final."

Fellow Brit Henman was on the same boat as his colleague. "Her journey as well with the troubles that she's had off the court and stepping away from the game. The way she came through in the second half of the year was absolutely brilliant," he said.

Anisimova will be one of the red-hot favourites for success in 2026. After she competes a brace of exhibitions in the USA, her aim will strictly turn to the Australian Open. Ranked as the number four in the world, the trajectory only seems up for the two-time Grand Slam finalist.