Australian Open 2019: Amanda Anisimova earns biggest win of career with victory over Aryna Sabalenka

The world No 11 was swept aside by a barrage of attacking shots from Anisimova, who won 6-3, 6-2

Anisimova earned the biggest win of her career (Getty)

Her parents are Russian, she has long blonde hair, she lives in Florida and she speaks with the same accent as most of her American friends. As far as her tennis is concerned, there is one big question mark about Amanda Anisimova: is she the next Maria Sharapova or the next Anna Kournikova?

Anisimova, who at 17 is the youngest player left in singles competition here at the Australian Open, had lost in the first round in her only two previous Grand Slam appearances before this week, but underlined her rapidly growing reputation with a stunning victory here on Friday.

Arnya Sabalenka, a 20-year-old from Belarus, had been tipped by many as a dark horse to win this title, but the world No 11 was swept aside by a barrage of attacking shots from Anisimova, who won 6-3, 6-2 to earn a fourth-round meeting with the winner of the later encounter between Petra Kvitova and Belinda Bencic.

Anisimova won in just 65 minutes as Sabalenka was unable to deal with the variety and pace of her opponent’s shots. There was much more to Anisimova’s game than raw power, as she showed with some dazzling squash-style shots when pushed out wide on her forehand. Sabalenka, who has won three titles since August, bounced her racket on the ground in frustration as she was regularly out-hit and out-manoeuvred.

“That was probably one of the best matches of my life,” Anisimova said afterwards. “She’s a really tough opponent, so I was preparing myself for a really tough match. I was putting it all out there.”

A right-hander, Anisimova stands 5ft 11in tall and has an excellent all-round game, with her backhand a particularly potent weapon. She has won all three of her matches here in straight sets and dropped just two games to Lesia Tsurenko, the No 24 seed, in the second round.

Sharapova and Kournikova – who despite all her early promise never won a title on the main tour - were both born in Russia but moved to Florida as children for the sake of their tennis careers.

Anisimova’s parents are both Russian but she was born in New Jersey and moved with her family to Aventura, just to the north of Miami, when she was three. She is coached by her father, Konstantin, and by Max Fomine. She was previously mentored by Nick Saviano, who coached Eugenie Bouchard and Sloane Stephens.

Sharapova, who was the last teenager to win a Grand Slam title when she won the US Open in 2006, is one of Anisimova’s idols. “I’ve always looked up to her and I was watching her when I was little,” Anisimova said. “She's a great person to look up to. Yeah, I always enjoyed watching her play and all of her interviews. She's a great person off the court too.”

At the age of 14 Anisimova reached the girls’ final at the French Open in 2016. Last year she became the youngest player to compete in the women’s singles at Roland Garros since 2005. Later that summer she won the US Open junior title without dropping a set.

Anisimova is through at the expense of Sabalenka (Getty Images)

However, it has been on the women’s tour that Anisimova has made the biggest impact. She climbed 97 places in the world rankings last year to finish the season at No 95, despite the restrictions on the number of tournaments she could play because of her age, and registered some headline-grabbing victories.

At Indian Wells Anisimova beat Kvitova and Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova and at Hiroshima she reached her first WTA final despite having to come through the qualifying tournament. Currently ranked No 87 in the world and the youngest player in the top 100, she could climb into the world’s top 60 by the end of this month.

Despite her tender years, Anisimova is not afraid to speak her own mind. She says Billie Jean King is her role model thanks to her work for women’s rights and last year called for changes to gun laws in the United States following a shooting incident at a school in Florida.

After beating Sabalenka Anisimova was asked what her main dream in tennis would be. “I want to win this tournament right now,” she said with a smile. “I loved playing out there today. I think I have never had that much fun in a match before. The crowd was just amazing, supporting me all the time.”