By E.J. Crawford, USTA.com
For two weeks, American tennis fans have followed the French Open, appreciating the continued brilliance of Serena Williams and looking out for future U.S. champions.
Meantime, on the back courts at Roland Garros, a potential heir was winning match after match, taking down older players with each round of the French Open Junior Championships.
On Saturday, 14-year-old Amanda Anisimova, the No. 2 seed and the youngest player in the Top 50 of the ITF world junior rankings, advance to the girls’ singles final with a 7-6, 6-2 victory over No. 4 Anastasia Potapova.
Anisimova, who entered the French Open at No. 5 in the world junior rankings, has dropped just one set en route to the final, against countrywoman Michaela Gordon in the third round. She will face No. 12 seed Rebeka Masarova of Switzerland on Sunday in the girls’ singles final.
The last American girl to win the French Open juniors was Jennifer Capriati, in 1989. The only other U.S. winners of the Roland Garros girls’ singles are Anne Smith (1977), Kathy Horvath (1980) and Bonnie Gadusek (1981).
The French Open is only her second junior Grand Slam tournament of Anisimova’s young career. Last September, she won two matches to qualify for the main draw of the US Open Junior Championships.
In addition to her success this week, the Hallandale Beach, Fla., resident earlier this year won the Coffee Bowl in Costa Rica and reached the semifinals of the International Spring Championships in California, both on hard courts, and she advanced to the final on clay at a Grade A tournament in Brazil. She also won a Grade A junior event on clay in Mexico in 2015.
Anisimova is a two-time member of the Team USA Junior National Team and represented the U.S. in Junior Fed Cup qualifying in April. She works with renowned coach Nick Saviano, as well as her mother and father.