In what will certainly be another low point in the season for Amanda Anisimova, she has now been forced to withdraw from the Madrid Open with what appears to be a wrist injury. Up to this point, she had been enduring what has clearly been a below-par season by her standards, particularly compared to last year’s promising season. The withdrawal, coming just as the tournament gets underway, will be doubly frustrating for the young American after a few weeks without playing a match.
Such was the poor start that last month she made a coaching change in hopes of a change in fortunes, parting with coach Rick Vleeshouwers. The clay season offered her a chance to reset, but with this latest setback, any return to her brilliant best will have to wait as she recovers. Wrist injuries have certainly become a hot topic in the last few weeks, as she has now become the second high-profile player to suffer one, following Carlos Alcaraz. The World #2 suffered a wrist injury during his first match in the Barcelona Open, which ultimately forced him to withdraw and left his chances of making the French Open hanging in the balance. Now the WTA #6, who attended the Laureus Awards last night, during which Alcaraz won the award for Sportsman of the Year, will now join him in the treatment room.
A Season Of Troubles
She was last on court in Miami, where she suffered a straight-sets defeat in the ound of 16 to Belinda Bencic, which seemed to trigger the coaching change. Going into the Madrid Open, she had yet to appoint a new coach. She, however, would have been very keen to be back on the courts and kick-start her clay season, where she’d have also been hoping would bring about some changes in fortunes. However, that will now have to wait as she nurses her way back to health in what must feel like another blow for the 24-year-old. As with Alcaraz, the concern now will be whether she can return in time for the French Open to get underway.
Her withdrawal also comes as a further blow to the tournament and to tennis fans in the Spanish capital, after a host of top players had already withdrawn, across both the ATP and WTA Tours. The withdrawals have left the tournament with a much-depleted playing field. The fortunate beneficiary of this latest withdrawal, though, is the Polish Magdalena Frech, who herself has not had the greatest of seasons but now has a chance to change that. For Anisimova, she can only recover and hope this is the last setback she experiences in what has so far been a torrid season. The coming weeks will give her a chance to reset mentally and, hopefully, sort things out in the coaching department, as she hopes for a stronger second half to her season.
Main Photo Credit: Susan Mullane-USA TODAY Sports
