Amanda Anisimova advanced to her second-largest semifinal of her career on Friday night, defeating fellow American CoCo Vandeweghe, 6-1, 6-2, to complete the WTA 500 event in Charleston's final four line-up.
Anisimova's most notable semifinal was at Roland Garros in 2019, when she defeated Ashleigh Barty in three sets as a 17-year-old before losing to the eventual champion.
“It was super fun tonight,” the now-20-year-old said after her win over Vandeweghe.
“I love playing night matches. The crowd was really loud tonight.”
Anisimova was put to the test on her serve early in the second set, fighting off five break points when serving up a set and a break at 6-1, 1-0—but once she got out of that game and held for 6-1, 2-0, she never faced another, eventually shutting it out in straight sets after only 64 minutes.
She had 15 wins and 12 unforced errors towards the end of the match.
“CoCo’s been playing very well this week, so I knew I had to go in playing very well and serving big,” Anisimova said in her on-court interview. “It was a tough match today, especially early in the second set where there were some tough moments.”
Vandeweghe, a former No. 9, is making her way back up the rankings after missing much of the last two seasons due to a variety of physical issues—this was her greatest quarterfinal since reaching the final of the WTA 500 in Stuttgart in 2018.