January 9, 2022
(Reuters) – American Amanda Anisimova battled through injury to beat Aliaksandra Sasnovich 7-5 1-6 6-4 in the Melbourne Summer Set 2 final and claim her second WTA title on Sunday.
Anisimova, playing her first final since April 2019, needed three sets to beat 107th-ranked Sasnovich.
The Belarusian got off to a good start, breaking to take a 3-2 lead in the opening set, but Anisimova quickly raise her game, breaking back to level the set at 4-4 and then breaking again to take the first set 7-5.
Sasnovich responded to going a set down with two early breaks in the second set to take a 3-0 lead.
Two games later, with the set at 4-1, Anisimova took a medical timeout for treatment on her left thigh, returning to the match with her leg heavily taped up.
Visibly hampered by her injury, Anisimova was broken for a third time as Sasnovich took the second set 6-1 and levelled the match.
Sasnovich looked to have carried her momentum into the third set, as she held serve twice and broke to go 3-0 up, but Anisimova showed great resolve to fight back and break twice to wrap up the victory in two hours nine minutes.
(Reporting by Aadi Nair in Bengaluru; Editing by William Mallard)
Source: One America News Network
