Key events
Maria 6-3 2-1 Anisimova* Anisimova is, though, in exalted company – Maria has also been too odd and too good for Rybakina and Keys, grand slam champs both. And goodness me, a 15-all, she artlessly hacks a swing-volley long, having to supply all the pace on the ball herself … but from there, makes 40-30, then a Maria slice drops long. Anisimova needed that hold but, flummoxed by the spin she’s facing, she’s frequently hitting too powerfully or too tamely.
*Maria 6-3 2-0 Anisimova That’s more like it: at 15-0, Anisimova caresses a backhand winner down the line … only for Maria to uncork the nastiest of drops, which barely clears the net then dies like it’s satisfied its earthly purpose. You just can’t prepare for this, and as if to underline the point, a second-serve ace secures the consolidation. It’s a long way back from here for the befuddled Anisimova.
Maria 6-3 1-0 Anisimova* Eeesh, up15-0, Anisimova is well in the point, then hauled to the net looks lost; it’s telling that on various occasions, she’s been nearer grass than tape, then a dreadful volley means 15-30 and, if she’s not careful, this match will run away quickly. An ace follows, but an inside-out backhand fired just long leaves her break-point down and, though a forehand coaxed to corner gives her control of the next rally, a backhand into the net puts her in terrible trouble.
Tatjana Maria takes the first set against Amanada Anisimova 6-3
*Maria 6-3 Anisimova What I love about Maria is how easily she lands balls near the baseline, but her serve is of similar reliability. An ace makes 15-0; Anisimova then overhits a return; a delivery out wide is sent back into the net; and so is another! Maria seals set one with majestic composure and Anisimova isn’t enjoying the slices, nor the frequent sojourns to net.
Maria 5-3 Anisimova* Anisimova is soon chuntering, having needlessly overhit a forehand swing-volley with the point almost won … the a netted forehand puts her in trouble. All of a sudden, each shot is accompanied by a minor grunt, the next point finished via overhead, then the grunting stops, she doesn’t do enough with a volley and, caught at the net, is passed down the line. Two break points to Maria, the first saved via T-ace … but the second converted when yet another well-judged slices elicits a forehand response into the net! The German qualifier will now serve for the first set…
*Maria 4-3 Anisimova But can Anisimova break back? She’s quickly down 30-0, but a netted forehand gives her a sniff … and we wind up at deuce thanks to a decent volley. Gosh, and a framed forehand from Maria dangles break-back point … seized wit ha backhand winner cross-court. Anisimova has settled.
Maria 4-2 Anisimova* Anisimova likes the forehand ushered down the line and one such makes 15-0, then a cross-court pass doubles the advantage. And from there, she closes out an important love-hold, sealed with a delicate drop.
*Maria 4-1 Anisimova A big first serve, a return that doesn’t reach the net; 15-0. An ace down the middle follows, then Anismiova overhits a backhand – easily done with no pace on the ball – and a double breaks a run of 11 points in a row for Maria. Next, a long rally, ended by Anisimova with a forehand winner down the line that makes 40-30, and when, at the net, a weak lob is right there for her … she dumps it into the bottom of the net. That’s quite the oversight, and Maria has her consolidation.
Maria 3-1 Anisimova* Anisimova sends a backhand long, then totally butchers a swing volley; trouble. A tentative, rally-ball approach then gives Maria a target and she doesn’t disappoint, a precision pass raising three break points. And she only needs one, Anisimova tamely netting, and that was very poor indeed.
*Maria 2-1 Anisimova Anisimova is into this, dominating consecutive points to make 0-30 and showing off both her volleying and backhand slice in the process. It is, though, soon 30-all, and though unforced errors hand Maria the hold, my sense is that the match is on her racket.
Maria 1-1 Anisimova* Anisimova looks confident too, a forehand ushered down the line backed up with an ace for 30-0. And though, at 40-0, a forehand slice falls long, she soon hits a fine length on a groundstroke and the response is long. Anisimova was hitting well within herself there, feeling her way into the final, but perhaps she’s looking to take pace off to make it harder for Maria to play her game.
*Maria 1-0 Anisimova (*denotes server) Easy power from Anisimova, a forehand down the line making 15-all but a backhand return restoring Maria’s advantage. An ace follows them, after slicing her way to the net, she stretches to stick away the attempted pass via confident volley. She mad that look easy, and verily it was not.
Ready … play.
Apparently Anisimova was practising this morning and had someone hitting slices at her. That makes sense, but it won’t be the same as what’s in store for her on court this afternoon. Thing is – and as I type, there’s another “slice and dice” – the match may, in fact, be decided by how her excellence on the return matches up with Maria’s excellence on serve.
Here come our players. Andy Murray Arena is full.
That said, if I hear the phrase “slice and dice” once more, I’ll … er do nothing, but with a mildly irritated look on my coupon.
We know how Maria will play today: she’ll take pace off and look to make her opponent uncomfortable with slices and spins. She loves playing on grass, has perspective that others don’t, and if it’s windy again, conditions will favour her more than Anismova, who wants to unleash in stillness.
And of course it’s impossible to conceive of this competition without casting our minds forward to Wimbledon. Anisimova made the last eight in 2022 and must’ve been at her lowest around then; she’s running into form nicely now, feeling like an entirely different person. She’s definitely one to watch, whatever happens today.
So who’s going to win? Well Anisimova is the better player with the bigger game; if she produces her best or close to it, she’ll be hard to beat. But Maria is canny and knows that, at her age, this might be her last chance to snaffle so coveted a title. If she can keep Anisimova moving, she’s a really good chance.
Preamble
So we got there in the end. It’s taken us 52 years, but finally, we’re here: a women’s final at Queen’s Club, and what a joy that is. Though it barely needs saying, it’s worth saying anyway: equality and visibility matter; we must never be blasé about either.
Really, it feels banal to eulogise a brilliant tournament, because what else did we think would happen but this? What else could possibly happen but this? Yet conversely, it’s also fair to say that none of us predicted a final between Amanda Anisimova and Tatjana Maria – itself part of the beauty we’re extolling.
Anisimova was outed herself as a potential champion in 2019, reaching the semis at Roland Garros aged just 17. But the slog of the tour ground her down and eventually she acted, taking off the second half of 2023 to protect her mental health and returning a more realised, fulfilled human being – with the same divine ball-striking.
And what a week she’s had here. The portents were there – earlier in the year she won her first WTA 1000 title, then made round four in Paris before losing in two tight sets to Aryna Sabalenka. But even so, there can’t have been many who expected that, after seeing off Jodie Burrage and Sonay Kartal, she’d then despatch Emma Navarro and Qinwen Zheng, seeded 3 and 1 respectively. She is at it.
So, though, is Maria – another who evidences the restorative powers of a career break, having twice taken time off to have and look after her children. Following the birth of her second, in 2021, she reached the last four of Wimbledon the next year and now, aged 37 having relied on athletic prowess, is using her command of spins and angles to discomfit younger, faster and more powerful rivals.
Her run this week has been nothing short of sensational. First, she completed qualifying, then she ejected Laylah Fernandez, Karolína Muchová, Elena Rybakina and Madison Keys for the loss of only one set. Which is to say shes playing as well as she can – and so is Anisimova. One of them is about to enjoy the greatest day of their career, and it is our privilege to experience the battle as they work out which.
Play: 1.30pm BST
