'OMG, love you Beijing': Anisimova wins China Open for second WTA 1000 title of 2025

Amanda Anisimova began her breakout season with a WTA 1000 title in Doha in February. 

Beijing: Scores | Draws | Order of play

Since then, she’s played her way into three more finals, highlighted by her first Grand Slam runs at Wimbledon and the US Open and earned her first trip to the WTA Finals in Riyadh.

Still, she hadn’t returned to the winner’s circle -- until now.

Amanda Anisimova defeated Linda Noskova 6-0, 2-6, 6-2 to capture her first China Open title, holding off a spirited comeback from the young Czech after a dominant opening set.

The match lasted 1 hour and 46 minutes.

It’s Anisimova’s second title of the season, both at the WTA 1000 level, and the fourth of her career.

During the trophy presentation, Anisimova first acknowledged her opponent.

“It’s been an incredible few weeks,” Anisimova said. “I want to congratulate Linda. You’ve been playing amazing and you’re still so young, so I’m sure we’ll have a lot more finals to play in. I’m excited to see you progress and see how your career goes. I’m sure it’ll be really great, so congratulations to you and your team.”

She also thanked her own team and family.

“To get the win today has been really special. Thank you [to my team] for sharing that with me -- you guys are the best. I’m excited for a lot more and hopefully we can keep going. Also, to my family back home, I’m sure you’re watching right now. I’m excited to talk to you guys and see you soon. I love you. And to my nephews, who I think might be watching -- hi Jackson, Kylo, I love you guys.”

Match report: Anisimova came out firing, winning the first six games and converting all three break points to take the opening set 6-0 in just 23 minutes.

At that point, it seemed a tall order for Noskova, playing in her first WTA 1000 final, to mount a comeback. But the 20-year-old responded admirably, breaking Anisimova to begin the second set and maintaining that momentum throughout. She saved two break points and played a more confident brand of tennis to force a decider.

But in the third set, Anisimova returned to form, dominating on serve and bashing winner after winner. The final turning point came with Noskova serving at 2-3. After holding serve in six consecutive games, an untimely miss on break point gave Anisimova the opening she needed.

The 24-year-old closed out the match by winning the final four games, putting the finishing touches on her championship masterpiece with a signature backhand winner down the line.

That final backhand was winner No. 187 of the tournament for Anisimova. Only Clara Tauson, with 196 winners in Dubai, has recorded more in a WTA 1000 event this season.

With the win, Anisimova became the third American to capture the China Open women’s singles title -- joining Serena Williams (2004, 2013) and Coco Gauff (2024) -- and the first American to win multiple WTA 1000 titles in a season since Williams in 2015.

The winning path: Anisimova’s road to the title was anything but smooth.

After straight-set victories over Katie Boulter and Zhang Shuai -- including a marathon tiebreak -- she came from a set down in back-to-back matches against Karolina Muchova and Jasmine Paolini. Her reward: a semifinal showdown with Gauff, the No. 2 seed and defending champion.

Anisimova dispatched Gauff in convincing fashion, entering the final as the clear favorite. Though Noskova gave her a run for her money -- all $1.1 million of it -- Anisimova capped off a dominant week with the title and the winner’s purse that came with it.

She finished the tournament with three top 15 wins and four victories over players ranked inside the top 30 in the PIF WTA Rankings.

What’s next: It’s a short turnaround for both players, who will immediately head to Wuhan for the final WTA 1000 event of the season, where Anisimova will look to complete the China sweep.

From there, her focus will shift to the WTA Finals in Riyadh in early November, where she’ll make her debut at the season-ending championships. She remains No. 4 in the world rankings but overtakes Gauff for the No. 3 spot in the Race to the WTA Finals.

Noskova, meanwhile, will arrive in Wuhan riding high after what she called an “unexpected” run to the final.

She climbs to a career-best No. 17 in the world, becoming the new Czech No. 1 ahead of Muchova. She also rises five spots to No. 15 in the Race, and while qualifying for Riyadh remains a long shot, another deep run in Wuhan could put her within striking distance of the top eight.

As the players departed Beijing following another action-packed China Open, Anisimova summed up her week with a brief message during the camera signing:

“OMG, love you Beijing.”