Teenager Amanda Anisimova continues to make waves on the international tennis stage, resoundingly dumping China’s Wang Qiang out of the Miami Open on Tuesday to follow up an impressive Indian Wells debut.
Sixteen-year-old wild card Anisimova, whose parents are both from Russia, bested world no.53 Qiang (6-3, 1-6, 6-2) in Miami despite sitting 77 places below her opponent at no.130. Her victory set up a second round clash with Spanish third seed Garbine Muguruza.
Anisimova broke Qiang five times during a 98-minute match in which she committed six double faults to meet Wimbledon champion Muguruza in a tough clash for her next match on Thursday at Key Biscayne.
The youngster initially grabbed headlines by knocking out two-time Wimbledon champion Petra Kvitova at Indian Wells at the beginning of March, to which she was also given wild card.
“I was so excited, I just threw my racket and I was just like: ‘oh my God, did this just really happen?’ So it was just crazy, I couldn’t believe it and I was shaking for like 20 minutes after that,” she said of her win over Kvitova.
The New Jersey native, who has a US Open junior title to her name, had never won a WTA main-draw match until Indian Wells, where she reached the fourth round.
That tournament was also notable for another giant killing, as 20-year-old Russian Daria Kasatkina reached the final by dispatching four top-20 opponents before coming up just short against Japan’s Naomi Osaka.
“Dasha is a giant killer: One gets the feeling we’re going to be seeing a whole lot of Daria Kasatkina in the coming years,” Richard Osborn wrote on the tournament’s official website. Kasatkina’s success meant she has beaten all four grand slam holders since September.