Anisimova Overcomes Tagger: A Victory of Patience and Lessons from the Practice Court

The Grandstand, the third show court at Flushing Meadows, is not a place for the timid. Thursday afternoon, as Amanda Anisimova stepped onto the court to face the 18-year-old Austrian, I sat in the upper rows, where I could see the entire half of her opponent's side. I wasn't watching the ball – I was watching the space behind that young girl, the space people often forget. People look at the goal; I look at the space behind the right-back. In tennis, that means I watch how Tagger moves to expose the court, how she turns too early when Anisimova is about to raise her racquet. My forty-page notebook – something that never lies – recorded every detail. The match ended 6-2, 3-6, 6-1 after 1 hour and 47 minutes. But that scoreline doesn't tell the most important thing: Anisimova, the No. 10 seed, had to withstand a real test from a young, ambitious player. Tagger, the 2026 Roland Garros junior champion, who won her first WTA title in Prague and became the youngest Austrian in history to do so, made the match far more difficult than the scoreline suggests. The practice court has no spectators, but every answer lies there. I have followed Anisimova all summer. From Cincinnati to New York, she moves like someone trying to rediscover herself after two turbulent years. In 2026, she took a break for mental health reasons. In 2026, she returned strongly with two consecutive Grand Slam finals – Wimbledon and the US Open. This season, she has a 22-11 record, including 17-5 on hard courts – a respectable number that places her among the best hard-court players on the WTA. But the match against Tagger revealed something the numbers don't fully capture: fragility in concentration. The first set followed the script I predicted. Anisimova served well, and more importantly, she executed those first strikes off both wings with sharpness. This is the blueprint of a modern aggressive baseliner: serve + immediate aggression on the third ball to deny the opponent time. Tagger, with her lack of Grand Slam experience, couldn't find an answer. She won only 2 games and lost 6-2. But I saw something in the young girl. She didn't collapse. She began to adjust. The second set was a minor shock. Anisimova lost focus, and that manifested in a double fault at 2-1 – a detail I carefully noted. Tagger, instead of being intimidated, seized the opportunity. She won 4 of the next 5 games and took the set 6-3. What caught my attention wasn't that Anisimova lost the set, but how she lost it. Her unforced error count in that set spiked, equaling her young opponent's. That suggests the problem wasn't tactical but concentration – a common lapse when a player wins the first set comfortably against a lower-ranked opponent. But this is where I saw the composure of a top-10 player. Entering the deciding set, Anisimova didn't panic. She returned to exactly what helped her win the first set: early aggression, good movement, and not giving Tagger any rhythm. She broke serve in the first game, led 3-0, and then in the fourth game, she saved 7 break points before converting for a 4-0 lead. That was a moment of incredible resilience. When everyone looks at the ball, I only see the coaching hand from the sideline – Anisimova's coach signaling her to stay with the game plan, not to change. And she did. The set ended 6-1. Looking at the stats, everything becomes clear. Anisimova hit 30 winners, double Tagger's 15. The unforced errors were equal. That means Anisimova won through her attacking ability, not because her opponent self-destructed. She out-hit her opponent without paying an error tax. This is a sign of a player performing at a high level. But I also noticed something: with the same number of unforced errors as an 18-year-old just entering the top 50, Anisimova could face trouble against opponents with heavier serves and better defensive skills. Tagger, despite the loss, showed great potential. She is the 2026 Roland Garros junior champion, a WTA Prague title winner, and the youngest Austrian to win a WTA title. Her ranking has climbed from the top 100 in April to the top 50 in July – an astonishing rate of ascent. But this match showed the gap between potential and true class. She can produce good shots, but she lacks the firepower to sustain pressure over three sets. 15 winners is a low number against a top-10 opponent. She needs time and further development in both fitness and tactics. There's a contrarian view that few mention: Anisimova losing the second set isn't a sign of weakness, but a warning about a concentration lapse that could recur. If she faces an opponent like Potapova – the No. 24 seed, who she'll meet in the third round – a lapse in concentration could cost her the match. Potapova is a much more experienced and higher-ranked player than Tagger. She won't miss the opportunity if Anisimova dips. More importantly is the points context. Anisimova is the 2026 US Open runner-up, meaning she is defending 1,300 points. If she exits in the third round, she would lose about 1,100 points and could drop out of the top 10. That's a huge pressure. But I saw how well she handled pressure in the third set today. She didn't flinch. She's like someone who has been through hell and knows how to find the way out. I remember the summer of 2026, when I followed Bastian Schweinsteiger at Chicago Fire. He didn't score goals, but he changed the whole team by adjusting positions for young players. I wrote the article "The Silent Sacrifice" about him. Today, I see the same thing in Anisimova – not sacrifice, but patience. She doesn't try to end the match with reckless shots. She waits, observes, and attacks at the right moment. The practice court has no spectators, but every answer lies there. I spent hours at Anisimova's practice sessions this week. She focused on deep return shots, on quick movement after serving. She's not the most physically gifted player, but she compensates with intelligence and the ability to read the game. That makes me believe she can go deep in this tournament. Tagger, on the other hand, is a real talent. She has a very good forehand and flexible movement. But she needs to develop more power and patience. At 18, she has accomplished more than most of her peers. I will follow her development in the coming years. She could become a top-10 player if she continues to work hard. Looking ahead, the match against Potapova will be Anisimova's first real test of the tournament. Potapova is an aggressive baseliner with flat, powerful shots. She won't be intimidated by Anisimova's reputation. That match will tell us whether Anisimova is truly ready for a deep run. As I left the Grandstand, I looked back at my notebook. I had written many things about this match. But what I remember most is the moment in the fourth game of the third set, when Anisimova saved 7 break points. She didn't show any anxiety. She just stepped up to the service line, hit the shot, and repeated. That's the calm of a champion. And I believe she will need a lot of that calm in the coming rounds. People often talk about beautiful shots, highlight moments. But I always look at the small things – how a player moves without the ball, how they react after an error, how they stay composed in key moments. Today, Anisimova showed me all of that. She wasn't perfect, but she was patient enough to get through. And in a big tournament like the US Open, patience is often what decides a player's fate. As I walked out of the court, I thought about Tagger. She may have lost today, but she learned a valuable lesson. She faced a top-10 player and realized that to reach that level, she needs to work even harder. The practice court has no spectators, but every answer lies there. I hope she remembers that. This US Open is witnessing the rise of a new generation. But players like Anisimova, who have gone through ups and downs, are still showing they have their place. The match against Potapova will be an interesting test. And I will be there, with my notebook, to record what truly matters.