Rennae Stubbs has named her “dark horse” in the women’s draw of this year’s US Open.
As the third round of Flushing Meadows begins, there have been very few upsets in the women’s singles so far, with 12th seed Belinda Bencic and 20th seed Maja Chwalinska being the standout early defeats.
In the round of 32, there are some eye-catching match-ups, including third seed Jessica Pegula versus former US Open finalist Leylah Fernandez, seventh seed Karolina Muchova and home favourite Emma Navarro, and of course, rising stars Alex Eala and Iva Jovic.
But one name that seems to be flying under the radar, according to Stubbs, is two-time major finalist Amanda Anisimova – who plays 24th seed Anastasia Potapova next up on Saturday.
The 25-year-old is 20th in the WTA Tour Race this year, and after reaching a career-high of third in January, the American has dropped to 10th in the rankings. She has made just one semi-final this season but was not helped by a wrist injury that forced her to miss Charleston, Madrid, and Rome.
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However, she did make the quarter-finals in Cincinnati, losing a tight three-setter to Pegula, and Stubbs – who is coaching Serena Williams – thinks she could be one to watch this fortnight in New York.
Moreover, it may be good for the former US Open finalist to not grab the headlines and leave that to the likes of Aryna Sabalenka, Coco Gauff, Pegula and more.
She said on The Rennae Stubbs Tennis Podcast, “Amanda Anisimova, who played very well today (Sunday) as well. We haven’t talked about her. I do think that her play last week, she lost a really tough match to Jess Pegula. I think there’s something that has switched.
“She’s gone back to her old coach; she probably doesn’t have as much pressure on her shoulders as she did…maybe going into Wimbledon, for example, or at the start of the year.
“Even I thought she could win a major this year. Maybe she could be the dark horse here. Nobody is talking about Anisimova.”
Stubbs, who won four women’s doubles Grand Slams, continued, “I think that would be a great narrative and a great story if Amanda broke through again and maybe got to a semi-final or maybe even a final.”
Back in March, Anisimova split with Hendrik Vleeshouwers, who was named the 2025 WTA Coach of the Year after she rose from 36th to fourth in the rankings.
Despite that, the two began working together again in late July, and it seems she could be on the up again. If she wins her third round match, she could face French Open champion Mirra Andreeva in the last 16.
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