Thank god, thank you Amanda for saving us. She beat Coco last time they played too so why not she has a good chance.

 

Amanda made this very difficult for herself but played some amazing tennis to save 6 BPs, break Paolini and hold for the match!

 

Amazing how she saved 6/8pts to Hold another time.

 

That was a clutch ending from Amanda! Love to see it.

 

Amanda is showing a new level of mental fortitude. Saved 6BPs at 3-4 in the 3rd and took her first one at 4-4. Held to love to serve it out.
She was exhausted but kept her mind and body as focused as she could. These last two matches have shown she's really dedicated to becoming a top player.

Jasmine didn't do much wrong (except moonballing, that can never be right)

 

I didn't expect Amanda to back up her Wimbledon run, then I didn't expect her to back up her USO run.

I'm STILL not expecting her to have a top 5 worthy season next year, but I'd be very pleasantly surprised. She's a joy to watch

 

Paolini blowing six(!) BP at 4-3* in the decider and then 30-0 in the next game was the ultimate downfall. Impressed how Anisimova battled back through this match. She's truly a 'new & improved' player in that regard this season. 47 winners and 69 UE so this match was on her racquet as usual.

 

Paolini blowing six(!) BP at 4-3* in the decider and then 30-0 in the next game was the ultimate downfall. Impressed how Anisimova battled back through this match. She's truly a 'new & improved' player in that regard this season. 47 winners and 69 UE so this match was on her racquet as usual.

You're not counting the aces and volley winners here under the winner category.

 

So proud of Amanda! After 3 hours on court, she was clearly running on empty, but her mental toughness never wavered — she fought for every point and found a way to win. Yes, the unforced errors piled up, but it’s the end of a long season and fatigue is real. What stood out was how often she came forward, showing she’s committed to improving and adding new dimensions to her game. It was an exciting match full of brilliant rallies, and I couldn’t be prouder of her. Can't wait for the semis!

 

she was clearly running on empty.... Can't wait for the semis!

that could be the problem, possible anti-climax in store...

Amanda's increasing clutchness is impressive indeed, and largely unexpected.

 

Been 3 years since she’s beaten Coco but was also the last time they played AND it was before Amanda’s break, it is very winnable.

In actuality every match of Amanda’s is always on her racket, as long as she can control her nerves.

 

@ManuelPabloArnao Polish C+ said she had 50 winners. The non-standard graphics for this match doesn't quite help for sure.

 

Does Amanda have a calf injury?

 

She was oddly limping and pulling up last match and she had the tape from the beginning of the match so she is working through something.

 

The last games of the macth were so good. Some of the best I've seen this year, with both playing great at the same time.
The growing up and maturing of Anisimova this year is amazing. Not too long ago she would have given up or be physically wasted after losing that first set against one of the toughest players to beat at the moment.

 

What a match this was! Amanda on fumes but still outlasting a fitter Jasmine with incredible ball striking. I didn't expect it to be this difficult for Amanda but Pao played a smart match, changing the pace a lot and not trying to outhit her. Amanda in this tournament and overall is a slow starter, it takes her quite a few games, sometimes a whole set to find her range. Once she did in set 2 I thought it would be over quickly again, but then physicality came into play and you could tell Amanda was playing on basically one leg. Tremendous effort to not give up and be bold, even going to the net on important points. Osaka should take notes if she watched this match; Amanda is not a great volleyer, she's not even a mediocre volleyer but she's not afraid to go up there to finish points. Such a gutsy performance. This match reinforces my belief that she will win a slam and probably multiple ones. She's become quite a player.

 

 

Amanda shut me up with this hard fought win… I said in the live commentary thread that after failing to serve out the first set and losing it in the tiebreak she wouldn’t fight but she battled for three fucking hours with a Paolini that was barely missing. Sorry Mandy, I need to trust you more and be nicer
She wanted to kill me with this match tho, ffs. It wasn’t always pretty but they played a lot of good points, some entertaining ones, some amazing ballstriking and winners from Amanda but also a lot of dumb errors… but I’m just really proud of the fight Amanda has been putting in lately, especially in this tournament and in this match. She had to dig deep to get this win and she’s come a long way from her days of “giving up” mid match. The shift on her mentality has been remarkable this season (starting in DC/Toronto tbh) and also the improvements she made to her game and fitness. There’s still a lot of work to do (continue to improve her serve and work in her net game, especially ) if she wants to compete with the top players for the big titles and win them, stay at the top of the game and achieve her goals but I believe she will keep working hard and will find a way. Keep going Animoo, love to see you fighting, winning and being successful!

 

Attagirl Amanda. Well done!!! 💪

 

Amanda also didn't misspell the word 'guys' written on camera this time. After R4 she wrote 'Love you, gusy' which I thought was 'Love you, Ansy' but she cleared that on IG

 

Epic I think this is one the best matches I have seen recently not just tournament, edge on the seat stuff. I thought Amanda was a goner at the end but she just punched through at the end , similar to the match against Muchova . It's crazy the ease with she keeps slugging those howitzer shots in these mud slow courts .

Rybakina needs to buy Amanda a drink for keeping Paolini just behind her in the race 😆

 

Amanda’s ball striking when it’s on is my favorite thing to watch. Those last few games YAS MAMA. She can be so scary good.

 

So' it seems like the coughing incident got smoothed over? That’d be a good thing at least.

Quite disappointed to see the by far more complete and interesting player lose' but it is what it is. Paolini's brain was her main weapon in this matchup' and when she spurned her chances' it proved to be her undoing as well. Live by the sword' die by the sword.

Gauff seems to be growing sharper' and Anise more tired' which suggests the former should win rather handily' but maybe there is a chance?

 

Great match, Amanda has definitely turned a corner this year.

It won't get any easier against Coco but hopefully the day off might be enough to recover.

Tough loss for Jasmine but honestly a great showing,just came up short by a handful of points at the end there.

 

That epic game at 4-3 in the 3rd set encapsulated the whole match. Jas looked the most likely to get the break and serve for the match but Amanda just kept pulling out massive shots when she needed them. One of those matches that neither player deserved to lose.

It's simply unbelievable how Amanda has transformed her tennis this year, pre-comeback Amanda would've crumbled after the 1st set. It just shows what getting a great team around you can do - Shadi Soleymani deserves a lot of credit for her holistic approach to Amanda's health and fitness.

 

Shadi used to work with Zheng last year just learned. You can see her in Zheng's box when Amanda played her last year here.

 

Yay Amanda

 

I watched up until Amanda saved 6 bps and held 4-4 at the third and then I had to get to work. At that time it seemed like Amanda is struggling with her tank pretty empty meanwhile Paolini was still jumping at least giving a signal to her opponent that she can still play longer. So I thought Amanda is done even after holding and Paolini has the better chance to take this.

I was proven wrong. I saw the live score update and Amanda won! Maybe Paolini is bluffing maybe she actually still has some energy in her tank, but there is nothing much wrong she did, even in terms of mental battle, its just you have to give it to Amanda, she fought hard and especially the last three games to cross the finish line. Her mental fortitude is amazing for sure. After two finals lost but with clutch performances like this she deserves another 1000 title at least. Whether she still has the energy left to do so is another thing though.

 

I was on the fence to whether Amanda had top10 staying power but she is starting to show that ability to win when not at her best and against a peaking in form top10 player. She's going to rack up a lot of weeks in the top10 and likely top-5 with what she has shown this season.

 

She only has a second round to defend in Australia so even if she doesn't repeat her success at Doha I don't see her top 5 ranking being under threat until Wimbledon.