Qatar Open: Amanda Anisimova beats Jelena Ostapenko to claim biggest title of career
2025-02-16
Category: sports

Amanda Anisimova claimed the biggest title of her career with victory over Jelena Ostapenko at the Qatar Open.The American beat Latvia's former French Open champion 6-4 6-3 at the WTA 1,000 event in Doha.It is Anisimova's first title since January 2022 and caps her impressive return following a mental health break from the sport.Anisimova has spoken openly, external about burnout and said it became "unbearable" being at tournaments, leading her to take an eight-month hiatus from May 2023.She subsequently dropped outside of the top 400 but, after coming out on top in a battle of the big-hitters,  will move into the top 20 for the first time in her career."There's been a lot of hard work, a lot of tears and a lot of good moments," Anisimova, 23, said."With tennis you kind of experience it all but that's also why I love it."The final was twice interrupted by rain, with the two players trading breaks before Anisimova held steady to take the first set.Ostapenko, who thrashed world number one Iga Swiatek in the semi-finals, missed break points for a 2-0 lead in the second set and was left furious after then being broken by Anisimova.She made a member of her team leave her player box and reeled off the next seven points but could not keep up the momentum after another rain delay.Anisimova was superb on return and closed out the match on her second championship point with a thumping backhand winner.