Anisimova overcomes Tagger at US Open: A win of composure and the points equation

New York, Grandstand Stadium, a late afternoon in September with the sun slowly softening. I sat in the commentary booth, watching Amanda Anisimova finish her second-round match with an unreachable backhand down the line. The scoreline read 6-1, 3-6, 6-1 against an 18-year-old Austrian named Tagger. But the numbers don't tell the whole story. Because before that young woman double-faulted in the third game of the second set, this match had a completely different complexion. Tagger, just turned 18, is having a remarkable season. Roland Garros junior champion, WTA Prague champion, the youngest Austrian woman to win a WTA title in history, and a Top 50 ranking achieved within months. She arrived at the US Open for the first time in her life, facing the No. 10 seed, a player who reached back-to-back Grand Slam finals last year. A test too big for any debutant. But Tagger chose not to play safe. The first set unfolded exactly as one would expect from a top player. Anisimova served well, and from those serves, she unleashed first strikes off both wings, pushing Tagger into constant defense. Thirty winners over three sets, double her opponent's count, is a telling number. But what caught my attention more was that both players made the same number of unforced errors. That means Anisimova didn't win by waiting for her opponent to make mistakes; she won by actively creating shot-making winners. This is the game of a player at the peak of her form, not someone struggling to find herself. The second set saw a fracture. The double fault at 2-1 was like a small crack on a concrete surface, and through that crack, Tagger surged. She won four of the next five games, pushing the match into a decider. I've witnessed hundreds of matches like this in my four decades of following tennis. It wasn't a tactical collapse, but a dip in concentration. A player who just won a set easily against a younger, lower-ranked opponent tends to ease off. And Tagger, with the freedom of someone with nothing to lose, exploited it fully. But what defines a Top 10 player isn't never making mistakes. It's the ability to correct them. Anisimova began the third set by completely re-establishing the pattern that won her the first set. Good serving, decisive first strikes, and most importantly, she gave Tagger no further chances to hang on. The fourth game of the third set was proof: she needed seven break points to finally break her opponent's serve, but once she did, the score was 4-0 and the match was effectively over. One could look at this match and see a convincing win for the No. 10 seed. But I see a bigger equation waiting ahead. Anisimova is defending 1,300 points from last year's US Open runner-up finish. A third-round loss to Anastasia Potapova, the No. 24 seed, would cost her approximately 1,100 points and almost certainly drop her out of the Top 10. This is the points cliff that any Grand Slam finalist must face. And the match against Potapova will be the tournament's first real test, unlike facing an inexperienced Tagger. I remember the summer of 2026, when I quietly verified three different sources about a transfer at Norwich City. I waited until everything was 100% certain before publishing, even though many colleagues had already reported early but inaccurate news. That patience, I learned from watching young players like Tagger. They may lose today, but they are building a foundation. Tagger lost this match, but she showed something: she could overcome herself before overcoming her opponent. And that, in my view, matters more than any second-round victory. As for Anisimova, the question isn't whether she has enough talent. The question is whether she can maintain focus across seven matches of a Grand Slam. Today's second set was a warning. Against Potapova, a more experienced and higher-ranked opponent than Tagger, a similar lapse could end the tournament. But I also saw how she recovered in the third set. And that's why I believe, if she keeps a cool head, today's Grandstand match is just the starting point of a longer journey. On hard courts this season, Anisimova holds a 17-5 record, with a semifinal in Dubai and quarterfinals at the Australian Open and Cincinnati. This is her favorite surface, and the US Open is her best chance to convert last year's finals into a title. But tennis never forgives those who stand still. Tagger today showed that the next generation is arriving fast. And Anisimova, at 23, stands between two worlds: the expectations of the past and the challenges of the future. As I left Grandstand, I saw Tagger signing autographs for a group of Austrian children in the stands. She smiled, and in that moment, I remembered a phrase I often use in my writing: the court may change owners, but the nights when voices go hoarse calling out names are never sold. Tagger may not have had those nights at the US Open yet, but she has begun writing her own story. As for Anisimova, she is continuing a story she started last year. And I, with my notebook full of phonetic transcriptions of player names, am still following every word.