Sawt Falasteen - Anisimova silences Chinese fans to set up Pegula showdown in Melbourne

The fourth seed, who contested two Grand Slam finals last year, kept her cool as temperatures soared to down Wang 7-6 (7/4), 6-4 on John Cain Arena.

She will play Pegula for a place in her first Melbourne Park semi-final after the 31-year-old disposed of defending champion Madison Keys in straight sets.

Anisimova and Pegula have met three times before, with the sixth seed winning them all.

"I'm feeling great. I mean, what a battle out there today. Tough conditions again, against a really good opponent. I've never played her before, she's playing some great tennis," said Anisimova.

"There were a lot of fans from China today, but honestly, it made the atmosphere so great. I don't find it disrespectful at all.

"They're just very loud, so they make the energy really fun."

Anisimova enjoyed a breakout year in 2025, reaching finals at Wimbledon and the US Open, losing to Iga Swiatek and Aryna Sabalenka respectively.

Should she get past Pegula, Swiatek is a potential last-four opponent.

There was little to split her and Wang in the early stages, staying on serve until the 24-year-old American finally worked the first break point at 3-2.

But Wang saved and served out to keep it level-pegging.

Anisimova was slowly gaining the ascendancy and after a hold to love she made her move as Wang was serving to stay alive, earning a set point.

But again the Chinese player snuffed out the threat to take it to a tight tiebreak, where Anisimova muscled her way through with some searing groundstrokes.

Neither player dropped serve in set one but there were three breaks to start the next set, with Anisimova snaring two of them before Wang had a medical timeout.

Wang seemingly gestured towards her groin when she called the physio and returned with heavy strapping on her upper right leg.

Despite showing no obvious discomfort, she couldn't find a way to claw back into the contest and Anisimova calmly completed the job with an ace.

N.AbuHussein--SF-PST