Amanda Anisimova advanced to her first WTA 1000 final after defeating No.15 Emma Navarro 6-3, 2-6, 6-2 in the semifinals of the National Bank Open on Sunday. Now ranked No.132, Anisimova is the lowest-ranked Canadian Open finalist in 40 years.
Toronto: Scores | Draws | Order of Play
Anisimova’s win over Navarro was her fourth Top 20 win of the week, coming off victories over No.3 Aryna Sabalenka, No.12 Anna Kalinskaya and No.10 Daria Kasatkina.
The 22-year-old American will face either defending champion and World No.3 Jessica Pegula or 20-year-old Diana Shnaider in Monday’s final.
Anisimova reached a career-high No.19 in 2019 after reaching her first major semifinal at Roland Garros as a prodigious 17-year-old. Last year, Anisimova shut down her season to mental health reasons and did not play a competitive match for eight months. She began the year outside the Top 300. Regardless of what happens on Monday, she will leave Canada in the Top 50.
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In their first tour-level meeting, Anisimova overpowered Navarro from the baseline, firing 28 winners to the No.8 seed’s 10. On a windy day that saw the start of the match delayed due to rain, Anisimova’s serve proved the difference-maker. Anisimova lost just three points on her own serve in the 28-minute first set.
“It was tough out there again today, super windy, struggled on my serve a little bit just with the wind,” Navarro said. “I had some good moments with it and some not-so-good moments with it, as did she.
“In the end, she handled the conditions probably better than I did. She hits a really big, flat ball, and it’s definitely tough to handle.”
Anisimova led by an early break in the second set before Navarro stormed back to win five consecutive games to force a deciding set. Once again, Anisimova broke first to lead 2-1 and this time she did not squander her lead. After wiping out a break point chance to hold to 4-2, Anismova closed out the next two games to seal a 1-hour and 55-minute win.
More to follow…