Aryna Sabalenka and Amanda Anisimova have played against each other in some of the biggest matches in 2025.
The most recent of those came in New York, when Sabalenka beat Anisimova to win the US Open title.
This was revenge for the world number one, as just over a month prior to the US Open final, Anisimova beat Sabalenka at Wimbledon.
When speaking about this brewing rivalry, former top 10 player CoCo Vandeweghe has explained what Sabalenka is doing wrong against Anisimova.
CoCo Vandeweghe pinpoints the mistake that Aryna Sabalenka makes when she plays Amanda Anisimova
Anisimova has enjoyed a breakout season in 2025, and is currently at a career-high ranking of world number four after reaching back-to-back Grand Slam finals.
It now feels likely that Sabalenka will have to play Anisimova more and more in the latter stages of the biggest tournaments in tennis.
According to Vandeweghe, who spoke on the Inside-In podcast about this rivalry, Sabalenka will need to stop making the mistake of going for winners too early in rallies.
“Her backhand is so good,” Vandeweghe said about Anisimova. “There is so much nuance to it that is like the technique and big shoulder turn she gets, which is disguised so well.
“I think for her, her backhand, she hits it in very different ways so she can get that ball deep, which is super important for her game, but with the same look she can angle it short. It’s not like a short spinny one, it is getting driven through the baseline, so it gives you way less time to catch up.
“She is a very similar hitter to a [Elena] Rybakina or a Sabalenka. And you see how much it disrupts Sabalenka when she gets into that backhand to backhand really with Aryna. Aryna pulls the trigger too early and starts to panic out of it, which is her strength against Amanda’s strength and you’re thinking why am I losing this battle, I am number one in the world and the best at it.
“It’s scary when it happens to you for the first time as a big hitting player where it’s like ‘oh no, there’s someone who can do this a bit better and a bit quicker than me. How are we going to disrupt them?”
Aryna Sabalenka vs Amanda Anisimova Head-to-Head
Sabalenka and Anisimova’s rivalry goes way back to 2019, when they played each other for the very first time at the Australian Open.
Anisimova has been a problem for Sabalenka since then, and she actually won their first four meetings.
Their head-to-head is still a bit more even now, but Anisimova still leads Sabalenka 6-4 after playing her at the last three Grand Slam tournaments.
| Year | Tournament | Result |
| 2019 | Australian Open (R32) | Anisimova beat Sabalenka, 6-3 6-2 |
| 2019 | Roland Garros (R64) | Anisimova beat Sabalenka, 6-4 6-2 |
| 2022 | Charleston Open (R16) | Anisimova beat Sabalenka, 3-6 6-4 6-3 |
| 2022 | Madrid Open (R64) | Anisimova beat Sabalenka, 6-2 3-6 6-4 |
| 2022 | Italian Open (QF) | Sabalenka beat Anisimova, 4-6 6-3 6-2 |
| 2024 | Australian Open (R16) | Sabalenka beat Anisimova, 6-3 6-2 |
| 2024 | Canadian Open (QF) | Anisimova beat Sabalenka, 6-4 6-2 |
| 2025 | Roland Garros (R16) | Sabalenka beat Anisimova, 7-5 6-3 |
| 2025 | Wimbledon (SF) | Anisimova beat Sabalenka, 6-4 4-6 6-4 |
| 2025 | US Open (F) | Sabalenka beat Anisimova, 6-3 7-6(3) |
After Sabalenka withdrew from the China Open, where Anisimova has reached the quarterfinals, fans will have to wait until their next meeting.
The next time that could possibly happen is at the Wuhan Open, where Sabalenka is the three-time defending champion.
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