Ask almost anyone on the women’s tour who has the best backhand and most will say Amanda Anisimova. Ask them who the best server is and the American is not usually top of the list. On Thursday, though, she did her best impression of Serena Williams as she hit 20 aces to scrape past Sofia Kenin and claim a place in the third round.
With every win, Anisimova erases some of the memory of last year’s final, when she was beaten 6-0, 6-0 by Iga Swiatek. But for a while early in the third set, when she trailed the former Australian Open champion 3-1, it looked like she wouldn’t make it. But when she needed it most, her serve came good. Nine of her 20 aces came in that deciding set and her serve got her out of a big hole.
