Amanda Anisimova used to be like a storm that appeared on the horizon, only to disappear just as quickly, before doing any damage. In Beijing, though, after a year of ascendant results, she finally looks like she’s socked in for good. 

Tennis blinked, and suddenly, Amanda Anisimova has become a force to be reckoned with. Once a tennis prodigy, then a question mark, she came back and found a way not only to start fulfilling her potential but also, in 2025, to become a champion for an entire season. Who would have thought that Anisimova would become one of the steadiest players on tour this year? I’m not sure many were ready to put their hands in the fire for that.

Yet here we are, talking about two Grand Slam finals and now two WTA 1000 titles, most recently the one in Beijing this past week. It’s not so much that she won the second WTA 1000 title of her career, but it’s also notable that the first one was way back in February, and her level hasn’t dipped all season long. Moreover, she showed resilience, reaching the US Open final after losing that Wimbledon final, and then winning the China Open after losing a second Grand Slam final this year. Getting crushed but bouncing back: That didn’t used to be an Amanda Anisimova tennis pattern. She’d play all lights-out for a while, then disappear in erratic losses with an erratic motivation. She had reasons, going through a lot off the court. But she also had a game demanding an amount of discipline and commitment she couldn’t find.

 There’s an obvious comparison to make with Aryna Sabalenka in how Anisimova has found a way to control her immense power for long stretches of time, in the process turning her career around. She dismantled reigning champion Coco Gauff in the Beijing semi, proving unplayable. “She’s definitely one of the best out of those I’ve played,” said Gauff about players with a game style built around power. “For sure, she and Aryna are tough when they’re playing that level of tennis. No matter what I did, I just couldn’t get into the match. She completely took over.” 

Anisimova didn’t only blast rivals off the court this week in a state of grace. No, she also fought hard to come back from one set down twice, against Karolina Muchova and Jasmine Paolini, channeling the same level of resilience she needed to beat Naomi Osaka in the US Open semifinals in three tight sets. These kinds of wins can transform a tennis career. “I’ve learned a lot about myself,” Anisimova said after her triumph. “Just figuring out ways to face certain challenges and push myself in moments when it feels like I can’t go any further. In that sense, I learned that I’m stronger than I think. That’s a huge win for me.” In Beijing, despite not being 100 percent (foot and calf issues), Anisimova refused to give up. She stayed and she fought.  

In 2025, she might finally be convinced that everybody was right: She has golden hands, golden timing, and a crazy good eye, so she can be so much more than an “I can hit all the winners” type of player. Significantly improved conditioning has also helped her mind stay tough in the matches. What we saw in Beijing was all the work Anisimova had done to become the player everybody had been telling her she could be. There’s nothing more annoying than people talking about how you’re wasting your potential, but Anisimova didn’t need anybody to tell her, because she knew it. “I feel like I’m playing to my full potential,” she confirmed. “I’m doing all the right things and working really hard, as opposed to a few years ago when I felt like I wasn’t competing or performing to my full potential.” And so now, week in and week out, we’re done wondering which Anisimova will show up on court, the one who can win it all or the one who isn’t in the mood to win. 

Everything started to click for Anisimova in February, but a year of consistently high-level play ensured that winning a second title in Beijing felt inevitable, rather than a surprise. “In Doha, I was just there with my tennis coach and not my full team. It was a bit different and very unexpected there. That was my first big win. This week, I was riding on a lot of confidence because I’ve had a great year so far. Overall, just really happy to have started the year off well, and now to be able to keep still going strong.”

Not a week of being in the zone, but an entire season of staying out there, fighting. A full schedule, very few injuries, very few moments where she looked like she’d prefer to be somewhere else.

Amanda Anisimova, enjoying the competition and the suffering, has to be one of the most surprising, in all the right ways, events of the year. She’s now the world No. 4 and could soon take Coco Gauff’s throne as top American before gunning for the only one that matters: the World No.1. If she gets there, nobody will be shocked.