Simona Halep shocked by Amanda Anisimova at French Open
Amanda Anisimova will play eighth seed Ashleigh Barty for a place in Saturday's final
Thursday 6 June 2019 17:26, UK
Precocious American talent Amanda Anisimova ended the hopes of defending French Open champion Simona Halep to reach the semi-finals on Thursday.
The 17-year-old, with heavy ball-striking, became the first player born in the 2000s to reach the Grand Slam quarter-finals and she continued her dream run at Roland Garros by sending Halep tumbling out of the tournament with a stunning 6-2 6-4 victory on Court Philippe-Chatrier in 68 minutes.
Halep, who won the French Open last year for her first Grand Slam title, had been looking to become the first woman to retain her title at Roland Garros since Belgian Justine Henin won three times in a row from 2005-07.
But, as Jelena Ostapenko showed here two years ago against the Romanian former world No 1, favouritism can count for little in the women's game with Anisimova following suit becoming the youngest from her country to reach the last four at the French Open since Jennifer Capriati in 1990.
Halep's defeat means there is guaranteed to be a first-time Grand Slam champion come Saturday, while Anisimova is the youngest semi-finalist at Roland Garros since Nicole Vaidsiova in 2006.
The 51st-ranked American raced through the first set, with Halep simply unable to find any answer.
Anisimova the surged into a 4-1 lead in the second set before the nerves kicked in and Halep fought back to level at 4-4.
Anisimova saved a break point to stop the rot and in the end it was Halep who was the more jittery player, serving a double fault to cough up a match point, which her opponent took with a backhand winner.
Should she win the title, the 17-year-old would be the youngest Grand Slam champion since Maria Sharapova at Wimbledon in 2004. Right now, she's just still trying to process this most-recent victory.
"I don't think it will sink in, at least not for today," she said. "It's crazy. I really can't believe the result today. And getting the opportunity to play against Simona, that's amazing, but how it ended is even crazier to me."
Anisimova will play Ash Barty for a place in Saturday's final after the Australian defeated Madison Keys 6-3 7-5 to reach her maiden Grand Slam semi-final.
The 23-year-old eighth seed is thought of as more of a threat on faster surfaces, but she has been in superb form this season and has carried that onto the clay.
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