"After an already quick turnaround between her quarterfinal victory Wednesday over Iga Swiatek and her semifinal match on Thursday, Anisimova then needed almost three hours to defeat Naomi Osaka in the early morning on Friday. It might sound silly but, because Sabalenka had four days off ahead of her semifinal match (due to Marketa Vondrousova withdrawing with injury ahead of the match) and a much earlier evening Thursday, Anisimova definitely has some catching up to do in terms of rest and recovery."
"Anisimova knows what it takes to defeat the world No. 1. She's done it in six of their nine career meetings and proved she's more than capable of it on the sport's biggest stages at Wimbledon earlier this summer. She will need to bring her powerful hitting, trademark aggression, incredible mental strength and will to win -- in addition to getting some free points on her serve --"
"Keep hunting. One of the secrets to Anisimova's success against Sabalenka has been winning the longer points, but she doesn't win them by waiting for Sabalenka to screw up. According to the match charting at Tennis Abstract, Anisimova won 12 of 18 points with rallies of seven or more shots in their Wimbledon semifinal, and 10 of the 12 came off of winners or forced errors."
Anisimova reached her second consecutive major final and will face defending champion Aryna Sabalenka in the US Open final. Sabalenka is the world No. 1 and has dropped only one set during the tournament. Anisimova played consecutive long matches with quick turnarounds, including a nearly three-hour win over Naomi Osaka, creating a rest and recovery disadvantage compared with Sabalenka, who had four days off due to an opponent withdrawal. Anisimova has beaten Sabalenka six of nine times and relies on powerful hitting, trademark aggression, mental strength, free serve points and winning extended rallies to upset the top seed.
Read at ESPN.com
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