WTA Roland Garros: Amanda Anisimova follows Serena Williams' footsteps
The 17-year-old Amanda Anisimova has been one of the most promising young players for a couple of years now and she seems ready to chase big goals in 2019. After playing in the fourth round at the Australian Open and winning the first title in Bogota, Amanda has become the youngest American in the third round at Roland Garros since Serena Williams in 1998, defeating the 11th seed Aryna Sabalenka 6-4, 6-2 in an hour and 14 minutes! Back in January, Amanda took down Aryna in Melbourne and she was the dominant player on the Parisian court too, taming her shots nicely and saving seven out of 11 break points.
The Belarusian couldn't do much with those four breaks she scored, dropping 60% of the points behind the initial shot and spraying 35 unforced errors to propel the youngster over the top. They traded four breaks in the opening six games and it was Amanda who delivered another one at 5-4 to take the set and gain the momentum. The American held at the beginning of the second set before five straight breaks of serve, three for Anisimova who grabbed another one at 5-2, stealing rival's serve five times in a row to march over the finish line and into the last 32.
Another player born in 2001, Iga Swiatek has kicked off her first Roland Garros campaign in a perfect way, toppling the 16th seed Qiang Wang 6-3, 6-0 in swift 53 minutes to move into the third round. It was one of the best performances in a young career so far for Iga, dropping ten points on serve and facing only one break point. The Pole finished the encounter with 33 winners and 12 unforced errors, leaving the Chinese miles behind (a 5-7 ratio) and taking 60% of the return points for five breaks from seven chances.
Swiatek rattled off four of the last five games of the opening set and never looked back, storming over the seeded player in set number two with a bagel in just 25 minutes to wrap up another mighty impressive triumph and book the third-round clash with Monica Puig. A player from Puerto Rico took down the 21st seed Daria Kasatkina 6-3, 6-1 in 70 minutes, firing 30 winners and 17 unforced errors and taking 56% of the return points for six breaks of serve. Puig played better and better as the match progressed and will compete in the last 32 in Paris for the third time after 2013 and 2016.
Ashleigh Barty came to Paris with just two Roland Garros wins and she already overshadowed that result with a 7-5, 6-1 win over Danielle Collins, taking a challenging opening set and dominating in the second to secure the place in the last 32 for the seventh time at Majors.
from Tennis World USA http://bit.ly/2EIIDz2
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