Amanda Anisimova, the 21-year-old American who reached the French Open semifinals in 2019, on Friday announced that she’d be taking an indefinite mental health break.
“I’ve really been struggling with my mental health and burnout since the summer of 2022,” Anisimova posted 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.”
Anisimova reached the quarterfinals at Wimbledon last summer — her career-best result at the grass-court major — but she was unable to build on her success. She lost in the first round at both the 2022 US Open and the 2023 Australian Open and she hasn’t recorded a win since February.
Anisimova, who is ranked No. 46, lost last week in the first round of the Madrid Open to Arantxa Rus.
Anisimova made her breakthrough as a 17-year-old at Roland Garros, defeating defending champion Simona Halep in the quarterfinals.
Her profile increased dramatically as a result; however, she withdrew from the US Open later that summer following the death of her father, who was also her coach, and played sparingly the remainder of the season.
Since then, she has had a series of other injuries and setbacks, including missing the 2021 Australian Open due to a positive COVID-19 test and suffering a broken toe last summer ahead of the US Open.
She gave no timetable for her return on her post, but concluded it by thanking her fans.
“I will miss being out there, and I appreciate all the continuous support,” Anisimova wrote.