Amanda Anisimova makes stunning return to Grand Slam tennis, knocking off 13th-seeded Samsonova in straight sets

In 2023, amidst personal turmoil, Amanda Anisimova pulled back from the sport announcing that she’d be taking an indefinite leave of absence, starting in May.

“I’ve really been struggling with my mental health and burnout since the summer of 2022,” the former World No.21 wrote on Instagram. “It’s become unbearable being at tennis tournaments. At this point, my priority is my mental well-being and taking a break for some time. I’ve worked as hard as I could to push through it.”

Fast forward seven months and the American is refreshed – and it shows.

Anisimova powered past Russia’s Liudmila Samsonova on Sunday, notching a 6-3, 6-4 victory for her first win at a major since 2022 Wimbledon.

“It’s an amazing feeling and I had so much fun playing out there today,” Anisimova said on court. “Ahead of the match I knew that it was going to be a tough match against a strong player, so I just wanted to enjoy every second of it.”

During her time away from tennis Anisimova got in touch with her artistic side, taking to painting, and even created a website to distribute her artwork for charity. The website takes the name of “AA’s Art for Hope” and donates portions of proceeds to foundations that focus on mental health.

Anisimova, 22, now seems more engaged and ready to resume her career. No surprise to taking out big names at the majors, the former world No 21 engineered her sixth Top 20 win at the majors on Sunday.

Anisimova, ranked No 339, will play the winner of the match between Argentinian Nadia Podoroska and Slovenian Tamara Zidansek next.

Melbourne (Grand Slam), other first-round results (Melbourne Park, hard, USD 58.910.000, most recent results first):

• Rebecca Marino vs. Jessica Pegula
• Aleksandra Krunic vs. Clara Burel
• Renata Zarazua vs. Martina Trevisan
• Lin Zhu vs. Oceane Dodin
• Yafan Wang vs. Sorana Cirstea
• Emma Raducanu vs. Shelby Rogers
• Katie Boulter vs. Yue Yuan
• Qinwen Zheng vs. Ashlyn Krueger
• Peyton Stearns vs. Daria Kasatkina
• Sloane Stephens vs. Olivia Gadecki
• Cristina Bucsa vs. Anna Blinkova
• Elena Rybakina vs. Karolina Pliskova
• Elisabetta Cocciaretto vs. Lulu Sun
• Emma Navarro vs. Xiyu Wang
• Camila Giorgi vs. Victoria Azarenka
• Greet Minnen vs. Clara Tauson
• Petra Martic vs. Ajla Tomljanovic
• Jelena Ostapenko vs. Kimberly Birrell
• Danielle Collins vs. Angelique Kerber
• Iga Swiatek vs. Sofia Kenin
• Caroline Garcia vs. Naomi Osaka
• Ons Jabeur vs. Yulia Starodubtseva
• Taylor Townsend vs. Paula Badosa
• Mirra Andreeva vs. Bernarda Pera
• Linda Fruhvirtova vs. Beatriz Haddad Maia
• Anna Kalinskaya vs. Katie Volynets
• Anhelina Kalinina vs. Arantxa Rus
• Viktorija Golubic vs. Veronika Kudermetova
• Yulia Putintseva vs. Anastasia Zakharova
• Magdalena Frech vs. Daria Saville
• Mayar Sherif vs. Elise Mertens
• Jaqueline Cristian vs. Katerina Siniakova
• Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova vs. Donna Vekic
• Rebeka Masarova vs. Aliaksandra Sasnovich
• Marta Kostyuk vs. Claire Liu
• Diana Shnaider vs. Jasmine Paolini
• Tatjana Maria vs. Camila Osorio
• Fiona Ferro vs. Mccartney Kessler
• Ekaterina Alexandrova vs. Laura Siegemund
• Kaja Juvan vs. Anastasia Potapova
• Anna Karolina Schmiedlova vs. Coco Gauff
• Nadia Podoroska vs. Tamara Zidansek
• Storm Hunter vs. Sara Errani
• Dayana Yastremska vs. Marketa Vondrousova
• Yanina Wickmayer vs. Varvara Gracheva
• Kayla Day vs. Viktoriya Tomova
• Elina Svitolina vs. Taylah Preston
• Linda Noskova vs. Marie Bouzkova
• Ella Seidel vs. Aryna Sabalenka
• Magda Linette vs. Caroline Wozniacki
• Caroline Dolehide vs. Leolia Jeanjean
• Sara Sorribes Tormo vs. Alina Korneeva: sunday
• Diane Parry vs. Xinyu Wang: sunday
• Maria Sakkari (8) beat Nao Hibino: 6-4, 6-1
• Brenda Fruhvirtova (Q) beat Ana Bogdan: 2-6, 6-4, 6-3
• Maria Timofeeva (Q) beat Alize Cornet (WC): 6-2, 6-4
• Alycia Parks beat Daria Snigur (Q): 2-6, 6-2, 6-4
• Tamara Korpatsch beat Jodie Burrage: 2-6, 6-3, 6-0
• Elina Avanesyan beat Zhuoxuan Bai: 4-6, 7-5, 6-2
• Barbora Krejcikova (9) beat Mai Hontama (WC): 2-6, 6-4, 6-3
• Lesia Tsurenko (28) beat Lucia Bronzetti: 3-6, 7-5, 6-3
• Kamilla Rakhimova beat Emina Bektas: 6-4, 6-4
• Leylah Fernandez (32) beat Sara Bejlek (Q): 7-6 (5), 6-2