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* Anisimova battles past Kenin into round three* Big-serving Fritz brushes aside compatriot Kypson* Zverev advances in quest for back-to-back majors* Holder Swiatek downs former number one Pliskova  Amanda Anisimova survived an almighty scare against compatriot Sofia Kenin on Thursday to join a wave ‌of American women marching into the third round of Wimbledon, while Taylor Fritz ensured the ​Stars and Stripes kept fluttering in ‌the men's draw.Twelve months after her 6-0 6-0 humbling by Iga Swiatek in the ‌title clash, Anisimova was ⁠on the verge of ‌another painful defeat after being dragged to three ‌sets by former Australian Open champion Kenin but she came through 6-2 4-6 7-6(10-3).The sixth seed's reward for ⁠a battling victory was a blockbuster Saturday showdown with another Grand Slam winner in Madison Keys, with the duo meeting as their country marks the 250th anniversary of its independence.Anisimova admitted there were "really awful" moments in her match and she was bailed out by her huge serve, after she fired down 20 aces."I never thought I'd say this, but thank you to my serve, I'm not a good server at all but after today, I can say that I am," a beaming Anisimova said on ​court."I'm really happy with my performance, especially with the end. Shout out to Sofia, she's such a good opponent and a real fighter ... I was down and told myself to keep fighting."I tried to bring myself back to the ‌present moment. I try to remind ⁠myself - have fun, you're playing ​at Wimbledon. These are the matches I train for, the tough ones, the fun ​ones."FRITZ EMERGING AS GENUINE CONTENDERFritz had an enjoyable outing in his own all-American clash on Court Two and the 2025 semi-finalist, a genuine contender on grass with his huge serve, advanced with a 6-2 6-2 7-5 victory over Patrick Kypson.The sixth seed joined U.S. colleagues Marcos Giron and Zachary Svajda in advancing, with Michael Zheng, Tommy Paul and Jenson Brooksby all going through on Wednesday.Giron, Svajda and Zheng face big tests in the next round when they play French Open champion Alexander Zverev, fifth seed Alex de Minaur and third seed Felix Auger-Aliassime but Brooksby has the unenviable task of trying to topple Jannik Sinner.Zverev continued his bid for a second straight Grand Slam trophy by beating ‌unseeded Frenchman Valentin Royer 6-1 6-3 7-6(3) ‌while De Minuar dispatched another Frenchman in ⁠Adrian Mannarino with a 6-3 6-2 6-2 win.Victories for Ashlyn Krueger and Emma Navarro meant eight American women ⁠advanced to the third round along with ⁠Iva Jovic, Jessica Pegula, Coco Gauff and Claire Liu.RYBAKINA THROUGH WITH MINIMUM FUSSIt was the end of the road for Caty McNally, however, as she ran into a roadblock in the form of 2022 champion Elena Rybakina and went down 6-1 6-2.Keys progressed with a 6-1 6-4 win over local hope Katie Swan, who could not take advantage of the high-profile support in the Court One stands where Kate, Britain's Princess of Wales, and ​tennis royal Andy Murray were sat.Arthur Fery was also watched by Kate in his early games against Finnish qualifier Otto Virtanen on Court 18, and the 23-year-old wildcard went on to win 5-7 7-6(3) 6-3 6-3 on a sun-soaked morning at the All England Club.She was gone by the time another British wildcard Jacob Fearnley fought for nearly three hours but succumbed eventually to Spaniard Jaume Munar 6-4 7-6(3) 6-4.Even as media speculation swirled about Serena Williams' participation in the women's doubles event alongside her sister Venus after a knee injury, her singles conqueror Maya Joint fell 3-6 6-2 6-0 to Alexandra Eala of the Philippines.Eala will ‌now prepare for defending ​champion Iga Swiatek, who cleared a potentially dangerous hurdle with ease as she beat former world number one Karolina Pliskova 6-1 6-3. 

Amanda Anisimova ended a tearful Mirra Andreeva's Dubai title defence Thursday with a comeback 2-6, 7-5, 7-6 (7/4) victory in the quarter-finals.The second-seeded American trailed the fifth seed Russian Andreeva by a set and a break before rallying back to complete a two-hour 38-minute win.She thereby booked a place in the semi-finals of a WTA 1000 event for the fourth time in her career."I was almost in tears there at the end," Anisimova said."It made me emotional seeing her like that. I feel we both won today," she added.Anisimova now gets a rematch with fellow American Jessica Pegula.Two breaks gave Andreeva a one-set lead and the defending champion leapt to a 2-0 advantage in the second set before Anisimova retaliated and clinched the next five games.Anisimova got broken serving for the second set and it was Andreeva's turn to fight back as she took three games in a row to level for 5-all.She broke again to take the quarter-final clash into a deciding set.Anisimova served for the match at 5-3 in the decider but Andreeva kept peppering her with slices and lobs to stay alive in the duel and soon drew level.It was Andreeva's turn to serve for the victory but she couldn't close at 6-5 and the contest fittingly went to a deciding tiebreak.Anisimova upped her level to take the breaker and hugged a sobbing Andreeva at the net, telling her she was "amazing".Andreeva particularly struggled on her second serve, winning just 37 per cent of her points behind it and double-faulting seven times.Earlier on centre court, Pegula advanced to a seventh consecutive tour-level semi-final - dating back to the 2025 US Open - with a hard-fought 6-3, 2-6, 6-4 performance against last year's runner-up Clara Tauson.The 31-year-old American has stepped up her game following sub-par results in Montreal and Cincinnati last summer and has since been a serious threat in the latter stages of every tournament she has played."My coaches and I worked on a lot of stuff to get my game back, to emphasise what I do really well, get back to the true roots of my game, just make that even better and more efficient," explained Pegula, who hit 36 winners and just 26 unforced errors against Tauson."I think I've been serving a lot better. Physically been feeling good. Moving better again."There's a lot of things. But honestly, I've been working on my game a lot. I think I've become a better player over the last six months."In the first meeting between the pair, Pegula and Tauson split the first two sets and were neck and neck in the decider until the American claimed a crucial break in the seventh game.Pegula closed out the victory two games later to punch her ticket to the second Dubai semi-final of her career, and first since 2023.In the night-session quarter-finals, third-seeded Coco Gauff will take on Filipina rising star Alexandra Eala before two-time Dubai champion Elina Svitolina faces Croatian lucky loser Antonia Ruzic. 

Amanda Anisimova will bid to crown her improbable redemption mission at the US Open today as world number one Aryna Sabalenka seeks to grab her final chance of the year to win a Grand Slam.Two months after suffering a catastrophic 6-0, 6-0 thrashing in the Wimbledon final, Anisimova has bounced back to stand on the brink of completing a fairytale comeback in New York. The 24-year-old eighth seed held her nerve to battle past Naomi Osaka in the semi-finals, winning 6-7 (4/7), 7-6 (7/3), 6-3 in an instant classic that finished in the early hours Friday morning.For Anisimova, the win represented a personal triumph after the trauma of her drubbing by Iga Swiatek at Wimbledon in July. The American, who took an eight-month break from tennis in 2023 citing burnout and depression, says her success in New York is attributable to the steps she has taken to prioritise her mental health."Obviously, it served me well, and I'm really happy with the choice that I made," Anisimova said of her decision to step away from the sport. "It's clearly paying off now, and I feel like I have a whole new perspective when I step onto the court. Even on regular days or training days, I think I appreciate the process a lot more than I used to."That resilience was on full display in Thursday night's thriller with Osaka, when she banished any negative thoughts to claw her way into the final. "I could have easily said, 'Oh, she's playing better than me, and I can't really do anything,'" Anisimova said afterwards. "I really tried to find a way, any way I could to stay in the match, even though it was extremely tough."Anisimova will also head into today's final armed with the mental muscle memory of having beaten reigning US Open champion Sabalenka in six of their nine previous meetings. That winning record includes a defeat of Sabalenka in the semi-finals at Wimbledon, where she prevailed in another tense three-setter."We've had very, very tough matches," Anisimova said of Sabalenka. "But I think the standout one was probably Wimbledon. It was really a seesaw match, which is almost always the case when I play her."Sabalenka, who advanced to final with a 4-6, 6-3, 6-4 defeat of American fourth seed Jessica Pegula, is bracing for another dogfight, admitting she still dwells on her Wimbledon defeat by Anisimova. "I have to trust myself, and I have to go after my shots," she said. "I felt like in that match at Wimby, I was doubting a lot my decisions, and that was the main thing that was bringing a lot of unforced errors. I gave her a lot of opportunities, and of course, she played incredible tennis, but I feel like I had my opportunities. I didn't use them."The 27-year-old from Belarus is also determined to avoid finishing her Grand Slam season empty-handed. The powerful right-hander was beaten in both the Australian and French Open finals this year before her Wimbledon exit, and is in no mood to let another chance to claim a fourth career Grand Slam singles title pass her by.That sense of steely determination was on display at the Arthur Ashe Stadium on Thursday as she fought back from a set down to squeeze past Pegula. "I badly wanted to give myself another opportunity, another final, and I want to prove to myself that I learned those tough lessons and I can do better in the finals," said Sabalenka, referencing this season's losses in Melbourne and Paris.Sabalenka is also aiming to achieve something that has become increasingly rare over the years in successfully defending the US Open. No woman has retained the title since Serena Williams won three in a row in 2012, 2013 and 2014. Asked earlier in the tournament for her thoughts on the fact that the last 11 US Open titles have been shared between 10 players, Sabalenka quipped: "My thought is to change it."