Teen Anisimova claims first WTA title in Bogota

Seventeen-year-old Amanda Anisimova captured her first career WTA title Sunday, battling back from a set and a break down to defeat former Vanderbilt University star Astra Sharma of Australia, 4-6, 6-4, 6-1, in the final of the Claro Open Colsanitas in Bogota, Colombia.

The No. 6-seeded Anisimova, a Freehold, N.J., native, was just two games from defeat, down 6-4, 4-4 to Sharma, before rallying and eventually winning her third straight three-set match of the tournament, and fourth in five matches on the week. She had not posted a clay-court win at the WTA level before last week's tournament in Bogota.

Anisimova, at age 17 years, 226 days, is the youngest American to win a WTA title since Serena Williams took home the trophy at Indian Wells in 1999, at the age of 17 years, 169 days old. She is also the youngest American to win a clay-court title since Lindsay Davenport captured the Lucerne championship in 1993 (at 16 years, 349 days).

The final in Bogota was the second of Anisimova’s career. The 5-foot-11 phenom also reached the championship match last year in Hiroshima, where she fell to Hsieh Su-wei of Chinese Taipei. Following the tournament, she made her Top-100 debut, despite missing four months of the season with a foot injury.

Anisimova, the 2017 US Open girls' singles champion and 2016 French Open girls' finalist, made her WTA breakthrough at Indian Wells in 2018, where she posted her first Top-10 victory against world No. 9 Petra Kvitova in the third round, before falling in the Round of 16 to No. 5 Karolina Pliskova. She also reached the fourth round at the Australian Open earlier this year, upsetting No. 11 Aryna Sabalenka in the Round of 32 before losing to Kvitova.

With her victory in Bogota, Anisimova jumped 22 spots in the WTA Rankings and is now at a career-high No. 54.