Anisimova comeback halted by Bouzkova at Auckland Classic

AUCKLAND: Marie Bouzkova ended Amanda Anisimova’s return to tennis at the Auckland Classic on Wednesday as she romped to a 6-0, 6-1 win. The 22-year-old American Anisimova, who took an indefinite break from tennis in May for mental health reasons, had no answer to her Czech opponent’s superior movement and shot-making.

Although her ranking has ballooned to 373rd, the former teenage sensation has been granted a special exemption to compete at the Australian Open. After impressing in her first match against Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova on Monday, Anisimova struggled for timing and appeared to lack motivation as she was bundled out in just 51 minutes. By contrast, everything came off for 25-year-old sixth seed Bouzkova, who has climbed to a career-high world ranking of 23rd. “It couldn’t get any better for me, I just stayed really solid and tried to be really aggressive when I could because obviously Amanda is such a huge hitter,” Bouzkova said.

“Obviously it’s the start of the year so we’re still pretty fresh and I’m taking advantage of that right now.” Bouzkova’s quarter-final will be against the winner of Thursday’s high-profile match between Ukrainian second seed Elina Svitolina and British wildcard Emma Raducanu.

Diane Parry pulled off the biggest upset of the tournament to date, fighting back to beat third-seeded Ukranian Lesia Tsurenko 2-6, 6-4, 6-1. The unseeded former junior world number one from France said she started going for her shots after a sub-par first set display.

“I was a little bit tight at the beginning, I wasn’t feeling good but I tried to stay positive because I knew I could do better,” said Parry, the world number 76. Her next opponent is the 71st-ranked Wang Xiyu from China who upset sixth-seeded compatriot Wang Xinyu 6-3, 3-6, 7-6 (7/2). American world number 31 Emma Navarro beat Elina Avanesyan 6-1, 6-2. US Open champion and top seed Coco Gauff faces Czech qualifier Brenda Fruhvirtova on Thursday.