Anisimova upsets 2nd-seeded Aryna Sabalenka 6-2, 6-2 to reach Toronto semifinals

TORONTO (AP) — Amanda Anisimova upset second-seeded Aryna Sabalenka 6-2, 6-2 on Saturday to reach the National Bank Open semifinals, her first victory over a top-10 player in nearly two years.

One of five U.S. quarterfinalists, the 22-year-old Anisimova took a mental-health break from tennis last year. She has two WTA Tour titles — in 2019 in Bogota and 2022 in Melbourne.

“She’s an amazing player, so it’s always really tough playing against her,” Anisimova said about Sabalenka, the Australian Open winner the last two years.

Anisimova improved to 5-2 against Sabalenka after losing the previous two matchups.

“I played her earlier this year at the Australian Open when she was on fire,” Anisimova said. “I went in with a little bit of a different game plan, and I was really happy with how I was able to execute that today.”

Sabalenka, from Belarus, had eight double faults in windy conditions, the last at love-40 in the final game. She withdrew from Wimbledon because of a shoulder injury and skipped the Paris Olympics

Anisimova will face eighth-seeded Emma Navarro in an all-American semifinal. Navarro beat fellow American Taylor Townsend 6-3, 7-6 (5).

“It was really tough,” Navarro said. “The wind was swirling.”

Townsend was the first “lucky loser” to reach a WTA 1000 quarterfinal. She got into the main draw as an injury replacement.

“This week has been amazing,” Townsend said.

In the night session, third-seeded defending champion Jessica Pegula faced Peyton Stearns in another all-American matchup, and No. 14 Diana Shnaider of Russia played No. 6 seed Liudmila Samsonova of Russia.

The five U.S. quarterfinalists are the most on the tour since 2001.

Pegula beat Samsonova in the final last year in Montreal.

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AP tennis: https://apnews.com/hub/tennis