When the draw for this Australian Open 2022 took place, eight days ago, everyone pointed to the potential Osaka-Barty in the round of 16, the clash between the defending champion and the world number one at home. We quickly forgot that the Japanese had a complicated third round to play against Amanda Anisimova who caused a sensation at Roland-Garros 2019 by reaching the last four.
The rest was more complicated for her, but the American may have found herself this Friday at the Maragret Court Arena. His level of play and his ability not to give in to the onslaught of Osaka were in any case enough to afford the latter after the super tie-break (4-6, 6-3, 7-6) and after having saved two match points.
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Winner, Anisimova obviously won the last game of the match but she had lost the first, on her serve moreover. A very bad way to start against the double winner in Melbourne (2017 and 2019). Naomi Osaka, airy for her first two rounds, did not give her young opponent the opportunity to come back.
Anisimova missed a game, she paid for it in the first set (6-4). More than one player would have lowered her head, the one who gave her coin to Osaka. Herself worried on a single service game, she put pressure on the opposing commitment. Osaka resisted once, not twice and the 60th player in the world came back up (3-6).
Amanda Anisomva delivered a superb match against Naomi Osaka
Credit: Imago
It was written that the two players would have all the trouble in the world to decide. If both had the opportunity to break, the final round was linear, up to 5-4 in favor of Naomi Osaka. While the waste was becoming more and more present on both sides of the net, the Japanese tried to take advantage of a little tension from Anisimova to surprise her on her commitment.
Alas, she committed two unforced errors on her two match points. Anisimova felt the wind of the ball but this scenario gave her confidence and it was she who took the super tie-break by the right end, leading 3-1 then 5-2 and going to conclude 10-5, on his first match point. Ashleigh Barty is warned: the American is quite ready to hinder the planned plans.
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