Australian Open: Returning Amanda Anisimova takes pride in reaching fourth round

Amanda Anisimova expressed her pride in reaching the second week of the Australian Open upon her return from an eight-month hiatus from tennis. Even though a part of her anticipated a seamless return, the 22-year-old American, who took a break from the sport in May due to mental health concerns and burnout, commenced her Melbourne campaign by defeating Russian 13th seed Liudmila Samsonova 6-3, 6-4. Anisimova, a semi-finalist at the French Open in 2019 and a former world number 21, continued her impressive run with convincing victories over Argentine Nadia Podoroska and former world number two Paula Badosa in the subsequent rounds.