Anisimova celebrates 25th birthday with 25 winners against Krueger to start US Open
On her 25th birthday, last year's US Open finalist Amanda Anisimova couldn't ask for much more after her first-round showing Monday.
US Open: Scores | Order of play | Draws
With a 6-1, 6-3 victory over fellow American Ashlyn Krueger, Anisimova celebrated 25 laps around the sun with 25 winners in a dominant 72-minute outing. Going off the No. 25 theme, the win improves Anisimova's record to 25-22 against her compatriots on the WTA Tour Driven by Mercedes-Benz.
"I think everyone is always nervous for the Grand Slam first round because you're trying to find your tennis and maybe find your rhythm, because first rounds don't always necessarily have the highest quality," Anisimova said to press. "Some people try to find their game and then they find it more in the later stages of the tournament, but I think it's very individual to the player.
"I felt great out there today. I thought I played well so I'm happy about that."
Anisimova, who was making her seventh main draw appearance in New York, never seemed to be in any danger Monday afternoon on Louis Armstrong, standing her ground at times when Krueger put the pressure on with 11 break point opportunities. On deck for Anisimova in a couple days time is Austria's Lilli Tagger, who earned her first career Grand Slam main draw win with a victory over Tamara Korpatsch.
By the numbers, here's what stands out from Anisimova's Monday afternoon:
2: Anisimova now holds a 2-0 lead in the head-to-head over Krueger. Their first meeting came four years ago at San Jose, where Anisimova similarly won in straight sets.
10: Krueger created 11 break-point chances for herself, but Anisimova's serve proved to be resilient as she saved ten of them including a couple games where she was on the verge of being broken at love. On the return, Anisimova broke Krueger five times.
11: Anisimova won 11-of-13 points when she came to the net. In contrast, Krueger came to the net only four times and won just one point as a result of Anisimova's power and control that kept Krueger toward the baseline.
14: The backhand is Anisimova's favorite shot and it accounted for 14 of the 25 winners on Monday. Twelve of those 14 came from ground strokes.
19: In first round matches at Grand Slams, Anisimova now holds a 19-8 record and she hasn't lost first round at a major since the 2024 US Open.
25: In honor of Anisimova's 25th birthday, the Louis Armstrong crowd sang to a blushing Anisimova in unison.
"I'm getting old," Anisimova laughed when asked on-court about what she's learned this past year since reaching the 2025 US Open final. "I don't even look forward to my birthdays anymore [laughing]."
66: Anisimova was effective on her serve, winning 21-of-33 (66%) points on her first serve. She landed just under 55% of her first serves, but when it came to her second, she still won around 60% of those points too.
