American tennis star Amanda Anisimova was on the verge of tears during her US Open defeat against Anastasia Potapova, as the loss sent her crashing out of the world’s top 10 in the live rankings.
Potapova, who the article describes as Austrian, came out as a 6-2, 7-5 winner against the home favourite at Flushing Meadows. Anisimova had reached the final of the tournament this time last year but was unable to replicate that run this year.
Emotional moment on court
After losing the first set 6-2 and going 0-30 down at 4-4 in the second set, the 25-year-old could be seen getting physically upset, looking up to the sky while appearing to fight back tears. She was unable to hide her frustration on the court.
Anisimova broke Potapova while her opponent was serving for the match but was unable to prevent defeat when the Austrian was given a second chance.
Struggles since 2025 finals
The emotions could stem from Anisimova being unable to replicate her success at major tournaments last year. After making the final of both Wimbledon and the US Open in 2025, she has been unable to move past the second week of Grand Slams since making the quarter-final of the Australian Open at the start of the year.
She has been as high as No.4 in the world rankings, but her latest defeat has now seen her drop out of the top 10 positions in the live rankings.
Coach change and reaction
Earlier this year, she split with coach Hendrik Vleeshouwers and appointed German coach Sebastian Sachs. She has, however, since reunited with Vleeshouwers for the hard court season.
“Oh, yeah, of course, I'm gonna continue working with him,” she said after the match. “And today's match doesn't change our partnership.”
Speaking after the match, Potapova explained how she overcame her opponent. “We had tactics before the match, which doesn't match my game,” she told reporters. “Obviously, I like to hit hard, I like to be aggressive. But I'm not going to outhit Amanda, she hits way [harder] and she feels way more comfortable in those kinds of rallies than I would feel against her. So I had to change a lot. I had to run a lot. And so the way I managed to do this, I'm really proud of myself.”
