Crazy Cool: Anismova Stuns Kvitova

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Crazy Cool: Anismova Stuns Kvitova

INDIAN WELLS—A red-hot Petra Kvitova carried a 14-match winning streak onto Stadium 1 today.

In contrast, Amanda Anismova had played just four Tour-level main-draw matches in her life.

More: Nishikori Withdraws From Indian Wells

None of that mattered much to the 16-year-old wild card.

Continuing her torrid tear through the draw, Anismova broke serve five times bouncing the two-time Wimbledon winner out of the BNP Paribas Open, 6-2, 6-4.

Anismova is the first 16-year-old to advance to the Indian Wells fourth round since Ukrainian Viktoriya Kutuzova did it 13 years ago.

Admitting she was “shaking” walking out onto the big stage, Anismova sure didn’t show it powering through a 69-minute victory.

“It feels crazy. I mean, I'm still in shock," Anismova said. "She's the best player I have ever played, and it was the biggest court I have ever played on. So it was definitely nerve-wracking kind of, but I was enjoying it so much out there and I was playing my best. It was a good day."

Kvitova had knocked off six Top 10 opponents amassing her winning streak—including then world No. 1 Caroline Wozniacki and reigning Wimbledon champion Garbiñe Muguruza en route to her second title of the season in Doha.

The ninth-seeded Czech grinded through a 6-7 (4), 7-6 (3), 6-4 victory over Yulia Putintseva in her opener, but won just 10 of 26 second-serve points against the aggressive Anismova today.

The world No. 149 from Miami beat Kvitova at her own game at times driving the ball down the line with authority and frequently taking the first strike in rallies.

The only true sign of nerves Anismova showed came when she served for the match at 5-3. Kvitova rifled a running forehand down the line to break.

Undaunted, Anismova broke back at love closing when the Czech netted a forehand. It’s her second straight upset of a powerful seeded player following a 6-4, 6-1 thrashing of 23rd-seeded Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova in round two.

This upset continued a tournament trend of wild card wins and seeds falling from the top half of the draw.

Kvitova is the 10th seed to fall in the top half of the draw joining former Grand Slam champions Muguruza and Svetlana Kuznetsova, who made her comeback in Indian Wells.

Meanwhile, Anismova is one of five women’s wild cards still standing. She will play her third-straight seeded opponent—either fifth-seeded Karolina Pliskova or 32nd-seeded Shuai Zhang, next.

Photo credit: @BNP Paribas Open

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