Have we officially entered the golden age of Amanda Animova? Of course it feels like that.
The 24-year-old American has reached the main post-back finals and won a pair of WTA 1000 titles in 2025. She has now sat in the No.4 in the world and will be considered in a small part of the players with a good chance to win great titles in 2026.
It has been a while, but even Animova is now starting to buy in the idea that she has officially arrived.
“I feel like i’m playing with my full potential,” she said Sunday after Beating Linda Noskova for her fourth career title in Beijing. “I’m doing all the right things and really working hard compared to a few years ago when I felt like I wasn’t racing or performing with my full potential.”
For Animova, success has come quick and enraged this year, but the talent-jawdropping behind and the ability to play a startling tennis brand of the first hit against the world’s best players-has been there for a while. We saw her in 2017, when she brought out Coco Gauff in the Us Open girls’ bachelors, and then again in 2019, when she reached the semifinal in Roland-Garros as a 17-year-old.
There were bumps rapidly along the way. Animova dealt with the hardest blow when her father and coach suddenly died in 2019 shortly before the SH.BA, and she was left back for a while. Eventually, after a mental health break in which she did a serious search for the soul and learned to prioritize happiness, Animova has appeared better than ever.
This is the player we saw in 2025. A well -regulated aggressor who is mentally and physically strong. A player who moves better than her, and the one who has now benefited to play under the white spotlight that shines in the last weekend at Majors.
“I feel like I have learned a lot about myself,” Animova admitted on Sunday in front of reporters. “I think I can take a lot of positive and see it as a lot of progress for me simply understanding ways to face certain challenges and push myself in moments when I feel like I can’t go further. I feel like in the sense that I learned that I am stronger than I think. This is a great victory for me.”
Animova, who controls a 45-16 winning record for the two-title season, says the mentally improving and striving for good even after a season full of wind profits (including over $ 6 million in prices) is of great importance when it comes to succeeding in the future.
“I think your mind can play the tricks for you and tell you you can’t continue if there are certain pains you have,” she said. “Even the negativity that appears. I think this is just part of my learning process, just by improving with every day.
“I think the mental game is so important to an athlete. I’m still learning constantly and trying to improve in that department. I think there is always room for improvements there. That is why I said this week has been really great for me in pushing myself and learning ways to keep myself in control and pushing myself.
“We as athletes do not feel great inside, day. I think that’s just part of the learning process.”
