LONDON -- Amanda Anisimova served three of her 20 aces in the deciding tiebreaker to hold off Sofia Kenin 6-2, 4-6, 7-6 (3) and reach the third round at Wimbledon on Thursday as Kate, the Princess of Wales, visited the All England Club.
Anisimova, who was consoled by Kate a year ago after being routed by Iga Swiatek in the final, trailed 3-1 in the third set before she broke back in the sixth game against her fellow American, the 2020 Australian Open champion who is now ranked No. 105.
"Some moments were really awful. I'm just so happy to be through to the next round," Anisimova said on No. 2 Court.
"I never thought that I'd be saying this, but thank you to my serve today," she added. "I'm not an amazing server. Now, I can finally say I can serve pretty good."
The sixth-seeded Anisimova whacked her racket on her leg at one point in the deciding set.
"I was down 3-1, and I told myself to just keep fighting and this might be your last moments at Wimbledon ... just try and maybe have fun and enjoy it," said Anisimova, who will next face 26th-seeded Madison Keys. "I try to remind myself, just have fun, you are playing at Wimbledon. I do get hard on myself sometimes."
Swiatek, who beat Anisimova 6-0, 6-0 for the 2025 title on Centre Court, needed just 70 minutes to get past 2021 Wimbledon finalist Karolina Pliskova 6-1, 6-3.
The defending champion gets Filipina rising star Alexandra Eala, who rallied to beat Maya Joint 3-6, 6-2, 6-0 in the third round. On Tuesday, Joint spoiled Serena Williams' singles comeback.
Second-seeded Elena Rybakina, the 2022 champion at the All England Club, made quick work of Caty McNally 6-1, 6-2 and will face Belgium's Elise Mertens, seeded 25th, for a spot in the last 16.
