Rennae Stubbs makes a big Amanda Anisimova claim before the Australian Open

Photo by Emmanuel Wong/Getty Images
Photo by Emmanuel Wong/Getty Images

Amanda Anisimova will be eyeing a strong run at the Australian Open after impressing in recent Grand Slams.

Anisimova takes on Simona Waltert in the first round of the Australian Open, where she is the fourth seed.

The American has reached the finals of her last two Grand Slam appearances at Wimbledon and the US Open.

Anisimova lost in the final of the former to Iga Swiatek, and suffered the same fate in the latter to Aryna Sabalenka.

Photo by Tomas Diniz Santos/Getty Images
Photo by Tomas Diniz Santos/Getty Images

Rennae Stubbs backs Amanda Anisimova for Grand Slam success

Former player Rennae Stubbs has now discussed the world number four ahead of the Australian Open, saying on her podcast: “I have said that Amanda… I feel like she’s going to win a major title this year. I don’t know where it’s going to be, but I suspect that she can win on any surface.

“She made the finals obviously of Wimbledon, she made the finals of the US Open. But she has made the semifinals in Roland Garros. So this is a player that can play on any surface.

“So I think Amanda will win a major, if not this year next. She hasn’t had a great lead-up. She hasn’t had a great couple of matches leading in here, but it sometimes doesn’t take a lot for her to find her best form.

“And she is up that section of the draw, so I think she’s my pick to get through to the quarterfinals up there.”

Photo by Robert Prange/Getty Images
Photo by Robert Prange/Getty Images

Andrea Petkovic says Amanda Anisimova can ‘beat anybody’

The Australian Open is Anisimova’s worst Grand Slam historically, with the American having failed to make it past the fourth round.

But another former player, Andrea Petkovic, has been impressed by what she’s seen from her, particularly from her practice match against fellow American McCartney Kessler.

She replied to Stubbs: “Nice. I like that, because yesterday, what you just said, I think that’s a great point you’re making because she was playing McCartney Kessler at Rod Laver Arena and she was not playing well.

“You could just see that she was not feeling the ball quite yet. And in the second set, there was a moment she was down 3-6, it was 3-3 in deuce, and her face just changed.

“It was all of a sudden that Amanda Anisimova gameface, and she ran away with the next three games 6-3 in a heartbeat, and then lost it in a match tiebreak. Obviously, there is no match tiebreak as a third set in the real deal.

“So I think if she can find that gameface, you know that’s the inner stance of ‘I’m not going to moan about what’s happening, I’m not going to complain about the conditions, I’m just going to settle down and do this thing’, then she can and will beat anybody.”

Anisimova enters the Australian Open after playing at the Brisbane International, where she beat Kimberly Birrell before losing to Marta Kostyuk in the round of 16.

READ MORE:Roger Federer says how he’d feel about Serena Williams coming out of retirement



* This article was originally published here

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