The stage is set for American to exact revenge on Iga Swiatek

Amanda Anisimova made an emphatic statement when she defeated World No. 1 Aryna Sabalenka in the Wimbledon semifinals in July, marking a significant career turnaround just a year after failing to qualify for the grass-court major. 

However, she was quickly brought down to earth by Iga Swiatek, who crushed her 6-0, 6-0 in the ensuing final. The loss was so embarrassing that Anisimova became only the second player in the Open Era to lose a major final with two bagels in the final score. 

On Wednesday, Anisimova will have the chance to exact revenge on Swiatek in the U.S. Open quarterfinals in front of her home crowd. The American punched her ticket to the final eight with a 6-0, 6-3 victory over Beatriz Haddad Maia in the fourth round, continuing her strong form at Flushing Meadows after dominating her first three opponents. 

Anisimova realizes it won't be easy to topple Swiatek, the 2022 U.S. Open champion, who has been in scintillating form lately, dropping just one set in the first four rounds after a strong showing in Cincinnati. Yet, she's hoping to feed off the energy of the Arthur Ashe crowd to reach her second consecutive major semifinal for the first time in her career.

"I'm really excited and looking forward to it," she said of her rematch with Swiatek, via The Independent. "At this stage of the game, you're going to play a really tough opponent regardless. So, to be able to have a rematch or to be able to face her again and give myself another chance, I’m really, really happy about that."

The 24-year-old "moved on" quickly after laying an egg in her first major final, but hasn't forgotten the lessons from the crushing loss.

"Bouncing back from that actually was a little bit difficult because that never happened to me before," she said of the loss. "But I’ve worked through it, and the hard-court season started off strong for me." 

Anisimova became an afterthought in the tennis world in 2024, winning only 55 percent of her singles matches while suffering a series of early exits. She has completely flipped the script in 2025, upping her winning percentage to 73 percent, while capturing a prestigious WTA-1000 event in Doha and making deep runs at Wimbledon and the U.S. Open.

The winner of the Anisimova versus Swiatek match will face either Naomi Osaka or Karolina Muchova in the semifinal.  

Anisimova and Jessica Pegula are the only two Americans left in the women's draw in the final major of the year. The fourth-seeded Pegula will face Barbora Krejcikova in the other quarterfinal, with a potential semifinal clash against Sabalenka on the cards. With Anisimova and Pegula on opposite ends of the draw, they could potentially set up an All-American final on Saturday.