There was little between Anisimova and Mboko early on on Tuesday night, as the two traded holds for the first six games en route to 3-all. But an Mboko backhand that clipped the line—and drew a mis-hit from Anisimova—gave the Canadian the first break of the match for a 4-3 lead in the opening set.
That break opened the floodgates, as Mboko would eventually win 10 of the last 12 games of the match to run away with it.
And the final match stats told the story, as Mboko finished with twice as many winners as unforced errors, 14 to 7, while Anisimova was in the negatives with 14 winners to 16 miscues.
Mboko also converted all four of her break point opportunities in the match, and fought off the only one she faced, while she was serving up a break at 2-1 in the second set—she actually saved it with an ace, then, incredibly, hit another two aces in a row to hold.
“I knew Amanda’s a really good player, so I feel like I tried to match her pace a little bit and just stay with her as much as I possibly could,” Mboko said. “I’m glad to have gotten it done.”
