Sports
The ultimate upset: How Anisimova beat Swiatek
NEW YORK — Moments after losing in the Wimbledon final in July, and with tears streaming down her face, Amanda Anisimova was resolute as she spoke to the crowd.
She had just lost 6-0, 6-0 to Iga Swiatek in a devastatingly swift 57 minutes, and the fans at Centre Court seemed enamored by her words as she continued to speak and by her confidence that wouldn’t be diminished despite the lopsided outcome.
“I know I didn’t have enough today, but I’m going to keep putting in the work,” Anisimova said. “And I always believe in myself, so I hope to be back here one day.”
The 24-year-old American isn’t quite back to a major final — not yet, anyway — but she had her chance to avenge the loss to Swiatek on Wednesday in the quarterfinals at the US Open. Much like at the All England Club, she entered the match as the clear underdog, but this time, with the vocal support of the crowd at Arthur Ashe Stadium, Anisimova found a way to pull off the upset for a 6-4, 6-3 victory to advance to her first semifinal in New York.
When it was over, just 53 days after her disappointment at Wimbledon, Anisimova initially appeared almost expressionless. Or perhaps she was in shock after she won on her third match point. But after she had exchanged a hug with a stunned Swiatek, a large smile appeared on her face and she put her arms on her head and nodded, before gesturing to her team with her clenched fist over her heart.
“Playing here is so freaking special and I’ve been having the run of my life here,” Anisimova said on the court moments later. “I mean, the first day I got here I was like, ‘OK, let’s try and get through one round.’ But yeah, this has been such a dream, and to come back from Wimbledon like that is really special to me.
“I feel like I worked so hard to try and turn around from that, and I mean, today proved everything for me. I can do it, so yeah. This is really special.”
To call Anisimova’s season resurgent would be an understatement. An exciting junior prospect and the 2017 US Open girls champion, Anisimova burst onto the professional scene with a surprise semifinal appearance at the 2019 French Open as a 17-year-old. The hype and endorsements immediately followed.
But her career was derailed by a number of personal and professional setbacks, including the unexpected death of her father and several injuries. After a difficult start to her 2023 season, Anisimova announced she would be taking an indefinite mental health break as tennis had become “unbearable” for her.
She spent eight months away from the tour, taking time to pursue other interests and, in her words, “reset.” She returned at the start of 2024 and reached the fourth round at the Australian Open, but had largely mixed results in her comeback year.
But 2025 has been completely different. Anisimova won the biggest title of her career at the 1000-level Qatar Open in February. She reached her first grass-court final at Queen’s Club in June — and then followed it with her miraculous run at Wimbledon, including a thrilling three-set victory over world No. 1 Aryna Sabalenka in the semifinals. She subsequently entered the top 10 for the first time. After her win over Swiatek on Wednesday, she’s expected to rise to a new high of No. 5.
After taking about 30 minutes to cry and mope following the defeat at the All England Club, Anisimova said a phone call with a friend almost immediately after helped her find the humor in the loss. She took some brief time off following Wimbledon to spend time with her young nephews and surf on the beach in Montauk, New York, but returned by the end of the month to play the Canadian Open.
In her two tournaments leading into the US Open, she had just two wins, and had never previously advanced past the third round at the tournament. But she still arrived to the year’s final major brimming with momentum and positivity — and with everything she learned from reaching the Wimbledon final.
“I think just having that experience and experiencing what that final was like definitely gives me some thoughts and certain things that I can bring with me going into this tournament, especially dealing with the stress and the tension of it being, like, a home slam, and there is a little bit of pressure on me,” Anisimova said before the tournament got underway. “I think just the way that the final went, it gave me a better perspective on how I should be handling my nerves.”
With her elevated profile and seeding, Anisimova has played every match thus far on a show court and, despite any extra attention, she has shown incredible composure and mental strength. She’s dropped just one set — against unseeded Jaqueline Cristian in the third round — but has otherwise firmly been in control of every match. She recorded a bagel set against No. 18 seed Beatriz Haddad Maia on Monday in the Round of 16. Through her first five matches, she has 28 aces, the second-most in the tournament, and she’s won 82% of her service games.
On Tuesday night, while mentally preparing for the quarterfinal match from her hotel room, she forced herself to rewatch the Wimbledon final, to take whatever she could from it. It was difficult, but necessary. She noticed she was “slow as hell” and fatigued but already felt she was in a better position this time around due to simply having that previous experience.
On Wednesday, playing in front of a crowd that frequently shouted words of support like, “Come on ‘Manda, you got this babe!” and “We love you, Amanda,” Anisimova was broken in the opening game of the match, just like she was at Wimbledon, and she couldn’t help but briefly panic. “When I wasn’t able to hold in that first game, I was really, like, ‘Okay, here we go,'” she said with a laugh in her news conference. “That was a little stressful.”
But this time, she recovered immediately by breaking Swiatek right back. And, she said, that took some “stress off of my shoulders, for sure.”
After taking the opening set, it initially appeared Swiatek had rediscovered her championship form as she handily took the first two games of the second set.
But Anisimova did not seem deterred, and she tried to fire herself up with positive affirmations and keep moving after every point — something she later admitted was not natural for her. She went on to win six of the next seven games, behind her strong serving, blistering returns and unwavering attitude. She had 23 winners on the day and just 12 unforced errors.
Swiatek said her inconsistent serving day “made the difference” in the match’s outcome. But she also said she wasn’t surprised by the level Anisimova brought.
“I think everybody knows how Amanda can play,” a dejected Swiatek told reporters after the match. “Yeah, she didn’t play well [at] Wimbledon, but it’s not like she’s always going to do the same mistakes or feel the same.
“No, I know that she’s a good player. She can play great tennis. So for me I was ready for a tough match.”
Anisimova later called it the “most meaningful victory” she has ever had.
Now into her third career major semifinal, Anisimova will next take on the winner of Wednesday night’s match between four-time major champion Naomi Osaka and 2023 French Open finalist Karolina Muchova on Thursday night. Anisimova has winning records over both players — she’s beaten Osaka twice and defeated Muchova in their only previous career meeting — but hasn’t faced either since 2022. She called both “incredibly tough opponents” but sounded ready for either possibility on Wednesday when speaking to the media.
On Thursday, just over 24 hours after one of the biggest wins of her career, she will have the chance to reach her second consecutive Slam final. But no matter what happens, she was letting herself feel proud of what she had already achieved this summer — and proven to herself and the world.
“It still feels a bit surreal, for sure,” she said to the packed room of reporters, with a backwards Nike baseball hat on her head. “I mean, I have that belief in myself and that confidence that I’m able to play at the top level, and I’m able to really go head-to-head with these top three and everyone who is in the top 10. I’ve shown that, and I think I was able to prove that to myself time and time again for a long time now.
“It’s really competitive these days, and also the Grand Slams are really tough, so I’m just really pleased to make it this far for the first time.”
Sports
Cam Newton views adding 18th regular-season game as ‘good business,’ questions how preseason games will work
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As the NFL continues to expand its reach and capitalizes on the ever-growing popularity of the sport both domestically and globally, talk of adding an 18th regular-season game has become more apparent.
The NFL Players’ Association has said players “have no appetite for a regular-season 18th game,” while owners like New England Patriots’ Robert Kraft believes “every team will go 18” at some point sooner than later.
For former MVP quarterback Cam Newton, he’s taking a step back and viewing an 18th regular-season game from both sides. That assessment has him believing preseason games, which every team plays three before Week 1 of the regular season, will become even more diluted.
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Cam Newton of team J Balvin looks on against team Druski during the Super Bowl LX Celebrity Flag football game on YouTube at Moscone Center South on Feb. 7, 2026 in San Francisco, California. (Thearon W. Henderson/Getty Images)
“Man, it’s a lot on the body,” he told Fox News Digital about another regular-season game added to the schedule, while discussing his Iconic Saga Productions partnership with Offscript Worldwide. “If you really look at it, what’s happening is they’re devaluing preseason games as we know it to be, and they’re trying to put it on the back end.
“Because, one thing we all know — and I say this with all due respect — America’s new game has been, for some time, American football. It’s just good business. The Super Bowl garners a global audience that no sporting event can attest to, especially domestically in the United States. So, they know, the more they give, the more they’re able to garner from difference audiences.”
So, as Newton sees this simply as “good business” for the NFL, he’s implying the league will once again drop a preseason game from a team’s schedule to add the 18th game. It’s what happened when the 17th regular-season game was added in 2021, as the preseason schedule was reduced from four to three games.
“I think, when you’re talking about the 18th game, it really comes down to if teams are going to really focus on preseason, or negate preseason altogether, just to get right into the regular season. That’s going to be interesting to kind of see,” Newton added.
While the NFLPA has pushed back at the potential of an 18th game, citing player safety as one of the main reasons behind keeping the schedule as is, others like Buffalo Bills left tackle Dion Dawkins see it as inevitable.
“It’s going to happen either way,” he told Fox News Digital in a recent interview.
“Then, 20 years later, guess what? We’re talking about a 19th, then we’ll be talking about a 20th.… Then it’s like, ‘Yeah, we are combat athletes all year long.’ But who knows,” Dawkins added.
ESPN analyst Cam Newton is on the set of “First Take” on Feb. 6, 2026 in San Francisco, California. (Aaron M. Sprecher/Getty Images)
For now, 17 games is what the NFL schedule will read in 2026. But, as Dawkins noted, who really knows?
To Newton’s point, it’s simply good business as demand continues to skyrocket for the league as each season passes.
EXPANDING CONTENT REACH WITH OFFSCRIPT
Newton may not be on the field any longer, but he remains tuned in with the NFL and every other sports moment through his content creation, most notably his “Funky Friday” and “4th & 1 with Cam Newton” shows as part of his Iconic Saga Productions.
Newton and his production team announced a major partnership with Offscript Worldwide, a creator-owned ecosystem that connects culture-shaping brands and platforms under one roof, which includes REVOLT Sports and 3BlackDot.
Offscript unveiled this new partnership at the 2026 IAB NewFronts, where they will begin collaborating with Newton’s independent production powerhouse, integrating his hit shows and amplifying the reach of athlete-driven storytelling for global brands.
Cam Newton on radio row at the Super Bowl LIX media center on Feb. 7, 2025. (Kirby Lee/Imagn Images)
“When you really think about Offscript, it’s like the ecosystem that bridges so many different facets of our lives, from sports, to culture, to lifestyle and so many different things,” Newton explained. “That transition for me wasn’t foreign. Instead of training to be the best football player, or the best athlete. Now, I’m just training to be the best content creator I can possibly be.
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“I just always want to be a beacon of the person, in a lot of ways, figured it out as I went. I’m just so thrilled that Offscript gives me and Iconic Saga the opportunity to continue to believe in our vision, and we’re not able to do these things without great partners like this.”
As this partnership kicks off, Newton will also be hitting the road for the “4th & 1 College Tailgate Experience,” visiting HBCU’s across the U.S. to celebrate their heritage and shine a national spotlight on student-athletes, academic programs, and the unique game-day culture that defines what it means to be an HBCU.
Follow Fox News Digital’s sports coverage on X and subscribe to the Fox News Sports Huddle newsletter.
Phil Foden could reportedly leave Manchester City in the hunt for more first-team football, while Julián Álvarez‘s much-speculated exit from Atlético Madrid this summer may not come to fruition.
Join us for the latest transfer news and rumors from around the globe.
Transfers home page | Men’s winter grades | Women’s grades
TRENDING RUMORS
– Manchester City attacking midfielder Phil Foden is ready to leave the club this summer. Football Insider reports that the 25-year-old has been frustrated by his limited playing time recently, and if an agreement over a new contract isn’t reached in the next months, he will look to move to a team in Europe, where several top clubs would be keen on him. Foden has been named on the bench by manager Pep Guardiola in four of his last five appearances across all competitions.
– Atlético Madrid are preparing to ward off interest in forward Julián Álvarez from Arsenal and Barcelona by offering him a new contract, Marca reports. The LaLiga side are believed to be readying a €10 million-per-season proposal that would place the 26-year-old on the highest salary at the club, with plans to make him their “flagship” player and successor to Antoine Griezmann, who will leave for Orlando City at the end of the season. Alvarez has caught the attention of both Arsenal and Barça following his impressive form in the current campaign, but it is said that there is optimism among the Wanda Metropolitano hierarchy that he will sign an extension.
– Chelsea are interested in AC Milan defender Strahinja Pavlovic, according to Corriere dello Sport. The Premier League club are reported to have already made contact with the 24-year-old’s representatives and are now monitoring his situation at the San Siro. It is expected that an offer worth at least €40 million would be required to get a deal over the line, with the Milan seeing him as a key figure among their squad. Pavlovic has scored four goals in 26 league matches this season, while he also starts regularly for Serbia at international level.
– Manchester United are lining up a move at the end of the season for Newcastle midfielder Sandro Tonali, according to The Daily Mail. The 25-year-old is reported to be made United’s priority option amid plans to strengthen their midfield, while club captain Bruno Fernandes has also provided his approval of the proposed addition. Tonali, who has made 47 appearances across all competitions for the Magpies this season, has also previously been linked with Arsenal and Manchester City.
– Barcelona left-back Alejandro Balde is on the radar of Manchester City, Manchester United, and Aston Villa. Mundo Deportivo reports that all three Premier League clubs have made inquiries regarding a potential deal for the 22-year-old, and while he wants to stay put at Barça, they could be willing to consider moving him on if they receive a “substantial” offer. Balde, contracted at Spotify Camp Nou until the summer of 2028, is seen as Barça’s first choice starter on the left side of the defense.
ESPN EXCLUSIVES
– OL Lyonnes are close to convincing midfielder Caroline Weir to leave Real Madrid as a free agent this summer. Read
– Saudi Pro League side Al Ittihad have resumed work on a deal for Mohamed Salah after the Liverpool forward announced Tuesday that he will leave the club at the end of the season. According to a source, Al Qadsiah are the only other Saudi Arabian club with the finances and ambition to rival Al Ittihad. Read
– MLS clubs Inter Miami and LA Galaxy, along with Saudi Pro League side Al Ittihad, are interested in signing Manchester United midfielder Casemiro on a free transfer for next season. Read
– Barcelona are considering an attacking shake-up which would include listening to offers for forward Ferran Torres and the arrival of up to two new forwards. Read
OTHER RUMORS
1:53
Could Liverpool sign Kvaratskhelia or Olise to replace Salah?
Craig Burley debates who Liverpool could sign to replace Mohamed Salah.
– Barcelona are looking at Osasuna winger Victor Munoz, but a deal could be difficult due to Real Madrid holding 50% of the playing rights on his contract that also includes a clause for them to sign him back. (Mundo Deportivo)
– Real Madrid are continuing to monitor Liverpool defender Ibrahima Konate. (AS)
– Manchester United remain interested in Nottingham Forest midfielder Elliot Anderson. (Mirror)
– Paris Saint-Germain winger Khvicha Kvaratskhelia has no interest in leaving the Parc des Princes this summer amid links to Arsenal. (Daily Mail)
– Chelsea, Newcastle, and Brighton are battling to win the race to sign FC Koln forward Said El Mala. (TEAMtalk)
– Arsenal defender Myles Lewis-Skelly is on the radar of Manchester United. (Express)
– Liverpool could sign two wingers this summer as they also look to land a player for the left-flank while finding a Mohamed Salah successor. RB Leipzig’s Yan Diomande is under consideration. (Ben Jacobs)
– Several top Premier League and Bundesliga teams are keeping tabs on FC Augsburg defender Noahkai Banks. (Rudy Galetti)
– Inter Milan remain keen on Roma midfielder Manu Kone. (Gazzetta dello Sport)
– Liverpool are among multiple Premier League clubs interested in Sunderland defender Lutsharel Geertruida. (TEAMtalk)
– Everton manager David Moyes is keen to sign West Ham midfielder Tomas Soucek. (Football Insider)
The final spots for the 2026 FIFA World Cup will be decided this month. In Europe, several matches will determine which teams are one step closer to qualifying for this summer’s tournament in North America.
Here were the UEFA matches that will be played Thursday: Türkiye defeated Romania 1-0 in the early game, Denmark got a convincing 4-0 win over North Macedonia, Italy impressed in the second half with a 2-0 win vs. Northern Ireland, Poland responded well in the second half to beat Albania 2-1, we had a thriller between Slovakia and Kosovo that saw the visitors win 4-3 to still dream about qualifying for their first-ever World Cup and Viktor Gyökeres got a hat trick for Sweden to win 3-1 vs. Ukraine.
However, two games have gone to extra time and penalties with Czechia beating the Republic of Ireland and Bosnia and Herzegovina beating Wales to advance to their respective final on Tuesday.
Enjoy all the live updates from today’s matches!
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