BEIJING — Amanda Anisimova captured the China Open title with a 6-0, 2-6, 6-2 victory over Linda Noskova, claiming her second trophy of a breakthrough year and fourth overall.
The third-seeded American overcame a second-set lapse to overpower the 26th-seeded Czech in one hour and 46 minutes in Beijing, AFP reported.
Anisimova lifted the trophy almost a month after finishing runner-up at the US Open, where she fell to world No. 1 Aryna Sabalenka.
At 24, she became the third American to win the China Open, joining last year’s champion Coco Gauff and 23-time Grand Slam winner Serena Williams.
After a blistering start, Anisimova took the first set in just 23 minutes without conceding a game. Noskova responded in the second set, breaking early and building a 5-2 lead before closing it out.
In the decider, the two battled until Anisimova broke for a 4-2 lead, holding her nerve to seal the victory with a winner on her first match point.
She collapsed onto the hard court in celebration, lying on her back with her hands over her face in relief and joy.
It’s been a stellar season for the world No 4, who was also runner-up at Wimbledon. This time last year, Anisimova was at world no. 43.
Anisimova dumped out second seed Gauff in the Beijing semifinals, thrashing the two-time Grand Slam winner 6-1, 6-2 in 58 minutes.
Noskova, who started her Beijing run as world no. 27, was playing in her first WTA 1000 final.
World No 1 Sabalenka said that she is “ready to go” after taking time off following her US Open triumph, as she enters the final stretch of the 2025 campaign.
The Belarusian will this week make her first appearance since lifting a fourth Grand Slam title in New York a month ago.
She plays at the Wuhan Open, where she has a perfect 17-0 record. She is bidding for a fourth consecutive title there.
Sabalenka, 27, is also engaged in a battle with Iga Swiatek for the year-end top spot.
A successful title defence in Wuhan would help Sabalenka maintain her lead over her Polish rival but it will not be easy, with Anna Kalinskaya or Rebecca Sramkova looming as possible first opponents for the top seed.
“I feel good,” said Sabalenka, who withdrew from the China Open in Beijing and took a full month off after her US Open exploits.
“I just didn’t want to rush my body into the tournament, so I think we made the right decision to take extra time for recovery and for the preparation, and now physically, I feel ready to go.”
Sabalenka suffered some brutal losses at the majors this year, falling to Madison Keys in the Australian Open final, to Coco Gauff in the Roland Garros final and to Anisimova in the Wimbledon semi-finals – before she turned things around at the US Open.
“I would rate my season as a pretty successful season,” she said. “The goal is to stay the same, to improve myself every day, to keep the position of world No 1, to see how far I can get in this sport and how much I can win.”
As Sabalenka looks to extend her undefeated run in Wuhan, Swiatek will be making her tournament debut.
She is coming off a disappointing round of 16 loss to Emma Navarro in Beijing.
The Pole picked up a sixth Grand Slam title at Wimbledon during the summer to end a 13-month title drought and has added two more trophies to her cabinet since then, in Cincinnati and Seoul.
Swiatek, who opens her campaign against Camila Osorio or Marie Bouzkova in round two, said: “It’s hard to be winning all the time and be consistent.”
Wuhan home favourite and last year’s finalist Zheng Qinwen has withdrawn from the tournament as she continues to recover from right elbow surgery.
Former US Open champion Emma Raducanu, who is fluent in Mandarin and whose mother is Chinese, will make her Wuhan debut by taking on American Ann Li.
