Amanda Anisimova Makes Wimbledon Final Years After Taking Extended Break

The 23-year-old star could be the first American woman to win the tournament since 2016. A self-imposed sabbatical may have helped her get there.

On Saturday, Amanda Anisimova, a 23-year-old American, will face Iga Swiatek, a five-time Grand Slam champion, in the women’s singles final at Wimbledon.

For Ms. Anisimova, a one-time prodigy who was born in New Jersey but raised on the sun-splashed tennis courts of Florida, it is the latest and greatest chapter in a big-time comeback.

Not so long ago, Ms. Anisimova was not playing tennis at all. Instead, after announcing in 2023 that she would be taking an indefinite break from being a professional athlete, she decided to sample life as an ordinary 20-something. That self-imposed sabbatical may have been more restorative than anyone could have envisioned.

“When I took my break, a lot of people told me that you would never make it to the top again if you take so much time away from the game,” Ms. Anisimova said at a news conference on Thursday after she defeated the world No. 1, Aryna Sabalenka, in their semifinal match. “Because I did want to come back and still achieve a lot and win a Grand Slam one day.”

As a teen, she climbed the junior rankings by working immensely hard at the game. She even won the 2017 U.S. Open junior title by beating another talented young American — Coco Gauff, now the reigning French Open champion.

Ms. Anisimova’s future practically glittered. But the grind proved costly as she moved into the pro ranks, and in many ways, Ms. Anisimova seemed to have succumbed to a classic case of burnout.

She also was grieving the loss of her father, Konstantin Anisimov. A few months after Ms. Anisimova had a breakthrough run to the French Open semifinals in 2019, her father, who had also been her longtime coach, died of a heart attack. Ms. Anisimova withdrew from the U.S. Open and retreated to Miami to be with her family.

“It was really hard to, like, leave my house,” she said in an interview with The New York Times later that year.

In May 2023, after a first-round loss at the Madrid Open, Ms. Anisimova announced on Instagram that she was stepping away from the game. She was candid about her troubles.

“It’s become unbearable being at tennis tournaments,” she wrote. “At this point my priority is my mental well-being and taking a break for some time. I’ve worked as hard as I could to push through it.”

Ms. Anisimova stayed busy during her break — by doing nearly everything but play much tennis. She went bowling, tried to water ski and lost at Jenga. She took road trips to Georgia and New York, splashed around in the Hamptons and visited friends at college. She fostered a dog, fed a goat and pet a horse.

Mostly, though, as evidenced by an album of archived Instagram stories from that period titled “My time off,” complete with a heart emoji, she was able to experience the sort of life she had been missing. Like shopping for groceries and popping into coffee shops and enjoying a few sunsets.

After returning to the tour at the start of 2024, Ms. Anisimova began to methodically regain her feel for the game. Now ranked No. 12 in the world, she has a chance to become the first American woman to win the singles title at Wimbledon since 2016, when Serena Williams won her seventh at the All England Club. She is already the first American woman outside the Williams family to make a Wimbledon singles final since 2005.

A juggernaut like Ms. Swiatek is a tough draw for the final, but win or lose, Ms. Anisimova’s Wimbledon run has confirmed a resurgence of American women, who have reached the finals of four consecutive majors, winning the last two. And the future continues to look bright.

“Just me being able to prove that you can get back to the top if you prioritize yourself — that’s been incredibly special to me,” Ms. Anisimova said. “And it means a lot.”

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