Amanda Anisimova: WTA schedule left Doha champ “vulnerable” in Dubai

DUBAI—Amanda Anisimova had no time to celebrate winning the biggest title of her career last weekend. The American was back on court less than 48 hours after winning the Qatar TotalEnergies Open and discussed the tricky scheduling that contributed to her 6-2, 6-3 defeat to McCartney Kessler at the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships.

“Definitely a little scary to go and play after such a quick turnaround,” she said in her post-match press conference. “Not testing out the conditions and putting your body through that, it's like very vulnerable.”

The 23-year-old stormed to her first WTA 1000 title on Saturday, defeating Jelena Ostapenko in straight sets to secure a Top 20 debut this week. But the pressure of back-to-back 1000-level tournaments had Anisimova, whose pre-Doha ranking prevented her from obtaining a first-round bye, scrambling to be ready in time to compete on Monday afternoon.

“With the schedule they have on us, it's tough,” she said. “You get fined. Then your ranking gets affected if you skip the big tournaments. We don't get much of a choice when it comes to that. Knowing that in my mind, I was like, ‘Okay, I'm going to try to play and do the best that I can. Hopefully I can get more used to that.’”

With the schedule they have on us, it's tough. You get fined. Then your ranking gets affected if you skip the big tournaments. We don't get much of a choice when it comes to that. Knowing that in my mind, I was like, ‘Okay, I'm going to try to play and do the best that I can. Hopefully I can get more used to that.’ Amanda Anisimova

According to the 2025 WTA Rulebook, “All players who are accepted into the Main Draw of a WTA 1000 Mandatory Tournament as a direct acceptance…must play that WTA 1000 Mandatory Tournament,” lest they risk getting a so-called “zero-pointer” factored into their ranking average at the end of the season—and a fine if the player fails to comply with the requirements of an on-site withdrawal.

“Obviously it's a good problem to have after a long week,” she conceded. “But yeah, it was definitely difficult. But I'm happy with the way that I tried to manage it and tried to put myself out there and still compete.”

Anisimova, who has taken time off in the past to address burnout and mental health struggles, was ultimately pleased with her effort, particularly in the second set against an in-form Kessler, who has won two WTA titles since making her tour debut only last year. Plus, there’s the consolation prize of leaving the Middle East as a Top 20 player after peaking at No. 21 as a teenager in 2019.

“I definitely didn’t feel like [a Top 20 player] because I never was,” she said with a smile.

But that’s not for lack of trying. Her best Grand Slam result, a quarterfinal finish at the 2022 Wimbledon Championship, came with no ranking points after the tournament banned Russian and Belarusian athletes from competing following the countries’ joint invasion into Ukraine.

“I never was very consistent I feel like on the tour since I was still relatively young when I had good results. I think that year in 2022 when I had good results, I made the quarters of Wimbledon, those points didn't count. I felt like I was having a really good year that year. So then maybe I felt like my level was very good.

“Hopefully this year I can keep playing good tennis. I feel like I'm in a good spot right now where I am mentally and physically. I hope I can build off of that. Yeah, just gaining more experience in match play is going to be important for me. I'm feeling good since my break. I'm trying to build and catch my rhythm here.”