Former Grand Slam Champion Backs Amanda Anisimova to Win the 2026 Australian Open

Amanda Anisimova reached her maiden Grand Slam final at the 2025 Wimbledon Championships in June.

Former Grand Slam Champion Backs Amanda Anisimova to Win the 2026 Australian Open

Amanda Anisimova (image via Yuki Iwamura)

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22-time doubles champion Grand Slam champion Todd Woodbridge has backed Amanda Anisimova to win the Australian Open next year after an impressive 2025 season, in which she reached two Grand Slam finals. The American star finished the year as World No.4, despite starting the season outside the top 20.

Anisimova had an unexpected but fantastic year on the WTA circuit. She defied the odds numerous times to reach major finals and win huge titles, as well as complementing her performance after coming back from some serious lows in her tennis career. She had taken a break from the sport in 2023 due to burnout and mental health concerns.

Returning to tour in 2024, she only managed to make headlines in Montreal after reaching the final of the Canadian Open. However, in 2025, she got over the line to clinch her first WTA 1000 title in the Qatar Open. She then went on to reach the final of the Wimbledon Championships before losing the title to Iga Swiatek.

At the US Open, she made an impressive run, reaching the final of the tournament. She faced Aryna Sabalenka in the championship match, losing in straight sets to the World No.1. Nonetheless, Anisimova has never gone past the fourth round of the Australian Open in her career on tour.

However, having ended the 2025 season in high form, Todd Woodbridge admitted during a conversation on The Tennis podcast that Anisimova can secure her maiden Grand Slam at the 2026 Australian Open in Melbourne. The former major winner noted that she has been coming close to winning a major title on tour for a while now:

That’s definitely on the cards. I’ve got to go with Anisimova, she needs a category. She needs to win something. [Lost in the] semis of the French Open to Ash Barty, and her life changed dramatically off the court, and that’s really rough. Finds a way to get back to being a fantastic player again, gets out there. Wimbledon, amazing tournament, final, one that you’ll never want to remember for her.

Anisimova ended her season at the WTA Finals in Riyadh, where she reached the semi-finals. She faced Aryna Sabalenka in the last four of the tournament but failed to get to the final as she fell to the Belarusian star in three sets. She recently featured at A Racquet at The Rock exhibition in New Jersey, beating Jessica Pegula.

Todd Woodbridge hails Amanda Anisimova’s mentality after defeating Iga Swiatek at the US Open

Amanda Anisimova’s defining moment on tour last season was when she reached her first Grand Slam final at Wimbledon. The American was ruthlessly beaten in the final at the All England Club, which left Anisimova in tears. The ruthless defeat was hard to swallow for the World No.4, but she did well to earn her revenge at the US Open.

Amanda Anisimova
Amanda Anisimova (Image via X/The Tennis Letter)

During the aforementioned interview, Todd Woodbridge highlighted that Anisimova showed an incredible mentality by defeating Swiatek a couple of weeks after losing to her at the Wimbledon Championships final:

The mental effort to come back and play so well at the US Open, I don’t think anyone can appreciate that. That could’ve been career-ending, that Wimbledon final. It was for Eugenie Bouchard; she never got near the heights again. So Anisimova, her whole journey to this point, she deserves any award you can give her.

Anisimova won her second title of the season at the China Open after beating Linda Noskova in the final. She had defeated her fellow compatriot Coco Gauff in the semi-finals and Jasmine Paolini in the quarter-finals of the tournament. After the event, she withdrew from the Wuhan Open, opting to focus only on the WTA Finals.

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