By Shrivathsa Sridhar
MELBOURNE, Jan 26 (Reuters) - Fourth seed Amanda Anisimova maintained her Grand Slam momentum by beating China's Wang Xinyu 7-6(4) 6-4 on Monday to reach her first Australian Open quarter-final, where she will face fellow American Jessica Pegula.
The hard-hitting 24-year-old has been in imperious form at Melbourne Park this year and has not dropped a set as she bids for a first major title after runner-up finishes at Wimbledon and the U.S. Open in 2025.
"I'm feeling great, what
a battle," Anisimova said.
Anisimova struggled to find her range in a tight first set, however, as Wang, spurred on by a vocal contingent of Chinese fans, held her own in the early exchanges and saved a set point before her American opponent won the tiebreak.
The traditional rallying cry of "Jia You" - literally "add oil" - continued as fans got behind the unseeded Wang when she broke back in the second game of the second set, but they went silent briefly when she surrendered her serve again.
"There were a lot of fans from China today," Anisimova said.
"Honestly, it made the atmosphere so great. I don't find it disrespectful at all. They were just really loud, so it made the energy really fun. It wasn't for me but I was just pretending like it was getting rowdy out there.
"It was great. I really appreciate everyone sitting here through the heat."
Wang took an off-court medical timeout following that game and soldiered on with her right thigh strapped up, but could not stop Anisimova from consolidating her break and pulling away for another straightforward victory.
Anisimova delivered the knockout blow in the form of a huge ace, her seventh of the match, to make it an American quartet in the last eight.
(Reporting by Shrivathsa Sridhar in Melbourne; Editing by Peter Rutherford)
