"The blockbuster Nike partnership had come on the heels of her father's death that year, and her subsequent U.S. Open withdrawal. After a first-round exit from the 2020 Australian Open, she became upset when a reporter asked whether she was "unsettled" after his death. She chugged along through the remnants of the season that the pandemic didn't upend, and finished the year ranked No. 30 in the world - impressive, but not world-beating."
"Female tennis prodigies come of age in a media pressure cooker. In the '90s, star players like Jennifer Capriati, Monica Seles and Anna Kournikova barreled through popular culture like a freight train. Endless cycles of scrutiny and obsession followed, including the simultaneous lauding and ridicule of their looks and lives and choices. Their successors in hype - Naomi Osaka, Emma Radacanu, Genie Bouchard - faced more of the same, and so did Anisimova."
Amanda Anisimova secured a high-profile Nike endorsement at 18 after reaching the French Open semifinals, generating rumors of a nine-figure deal and intense media attention. Photogenic imagery and comparisons to Maria Sharapova amplified online scrutiny of her looks and performance. Female tennis prodigies have historically faced cycles of lauding and ridicule, and Anisimova encountered similar pressures alongside peers like Naomi Osaka and Emma Radacanu. The partnership coincided with her father's death and a U.S. Open withdrawal, followed by mixed results, two WTA titles, notable upsets, and by May 2023 pronounced burnout from tennis.
Read at Intelligencer
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