Amanda Anisimova, at just 20 years old, has already become well acquainted with the highs and lows of tennis.

This year, she’s been riding one of the highs, defeating four players ranked in the top 20 to bring her career total of top-20 victories to 10. The run started with her upset of then-No. 14 Noami Osaka at the Australian Open, where she advanced to the fourth round before losing to eventual champion Ash Barty. At the Madrid Open, she took down No. 5 Aryna Sabalenka (her second career top-10 win over the Belarusian star) and No. 17 Victoria Azarenka.

Then on Monday, Anisimova again ousted Osaka from a Grand Slam in the first round of the French Open. The win was not technically an upset since Anisimova is currently ranked 10 spots higher than No. 38 Osaka, but it garnered national attention nonetheless.

“It’s always enjoyable to accept the challenge, even when it’s a tough match, and push yourself and see how far you can go,” Anisimova said after the win. “I enjoy these matches, even though they’re very tough … especially when you get to win them.”

Anisimova’s breakout moment came in 2019 when she was just 17. At the French Open, the New Jersey native stunned defending champion Simona Halep 6-4, 6-2 to reach the semifinals. She called her performance the “best tennis of my life.”

“I don’t know how, and I don’t know how I did it, but it just happened,” she said at the time. “I mean, it’s crazy. I really can’t believe the result today. And getting the opportunity to play against Simona, that’s amazing, but how it ended is even crazier to me.”

What an upset! 17-year-old Amanda Anisimova knocked off defending women's champ Simona Halep for a spot in the semifinals at Roland Garros. pic.twitter.com/FOxvagrGvW

— NBC Sports (@NBCSports) June 6, 2019

That same year, she won her first WTA title at the Copa Colsanitas and earned a career-high No. 21 world ranking.

Since then, however, Anisimova has had to fight to maintain her form and rank.

“At the time, I didn’t even really realize it,” Anisimova said in an interview with WTA in 2021. “It just happened, and I was really young. It’s just kind of grown on me over the last couple of years.

“It wasn’t probably as crazy as everyone thought it was to me. I thought it was kind of normal, because it just happened over the course of two weeks. Getting the confidence over the next couple of years kind of went with that achievement.”

At the height of Anisimova’s rise in tennis, tragedy struck. Her father and longtime coach, Konstantin, died of a heart attack in August 2019 at the age of 52. She withdrew from the U.S. Open that year and returned to competition briefly in September before cutting her season short.

“The only thing that has helped me is just playing tennis and being on the court,” she told the New York Times in January 2020. “That’s what makes me happy, and I know it would make him happy, so that’s the way it is.”

Anisimova went 11-9 in 2020, dealing with multiple injuries as she tried to rediscover her form from the year prior. She had some success in 2021 — including a quarterfinal appearance at the Emilia-Romagna Open — but finished the year 14-15 and fell out of the top 75.

Entering this season ranked No. 78 in the world, Anisimova has looked much like her old self. In her very first tournament of 2022, the Melbourne Summer Set 2, she made her first finals appearance since 2019 and won her second career WTA title. Since then, she’s been on a tear — particularly on clay, where she is 10-3 this season — and has soared to a No. 28 ranking, just seven shy of her career high.

One of the best players on clay, Anisimova looks poised for another deep run this month at the French Open, where the women’s field continues to open up with each early-round upset. After dismantling Naomi Osaka 7-5, 6-4 in the first round, she defeated Donna Vekic in the second round on Wednesday, 6-4, 6-1.

Following her win over Osaka, Anisimova called the anticipation in the lead-up to the match “difficult.”

“I was trying not to think about it too much, but going into the match, I did feel the stress and the nerves a bit because it is a very tough first round,” she said. “I’m just happy with how I was able to manage it and get through it.”

In just the first few years of her professional career, Anisimova has faced tremendous adversity. Already in 2022, it’s looking like she’s come out stronger for it on the other side, ready to realize the potential of her talents.

“I just have a lot of confidence right now with all the tournaments that I have played so far, so I’m just happy,” she said.

Emma Hruby is an Associate Editor at Just Women’s Sports.

The first two rounds of the 2025 NCAA volleyball tournament saw a lot of chalk last week, as the four No. 1-seeds — Nebraska, Texas, Pitt, and Kentucky — all rolled to spots in this week's Sweet Sixteen.

The Longhorns ousted reigning national champion No. 8-seed Penn State with a second-round sweep last Saturday, while Kentucky became the only top seed to drop a single set through the first two matches when the Wildcats defeated No. UCLA 3-1 on Friday.

"I think what I liked is the concentration throughout the entire match. There were no letdowns," said Texas head coach Jerritt Elliott following his team's win over the Nittany Lions. "There's so many good teams right now. The sport continues to grow and continues to be dominant. I told them we don't need to play perfect, but we need to be good enough to win each night, and so that's what we did."

Along with the No. 1 squads, nearly every Top-4 seed advanced to the Sweet Sixteen, with the only Cinderella story coming from the unseeded Cal Poly Mustangs.

The 2025 Big West champions stunned their Power Four opponents last week, taking down No. 5-seed BYU and No. 4-seed USC in five-set thrillers to book a third-round matchup against No. 1 Kentucky — the Mustangs' first Sweet Sixteen berth since 2007 and second since the 1980s.

How to watch the 2025 NCAA volleyball tournament this week

The 2025 NCAA volleyball tournament resumes when No. 2-seed Arizona State and No. 3-seed Creighton face off in the first of the two-day Sweet Sixteen slate at 1 PM ET on Thursday, with the Elite Eight then set to compete in the Regional finals on Saturday and Sunday.

All games in the Regional finales of the 2025 Division I tournament will air live on either ESPN2 or ESPN.

Canada women's hockey will have revenge on their minds this week, as the 2025 Rivalry Series between the reigning Olympic champions and Team USA resumes on Wednesday.

After dropping two consecutive results against the US by a combined score of 10-2 to open the sixth annual showdown in November, the series now heads to Canada — with both of this week's games taking the ice in Edmonton, Alberta.

"They had a great start, they have a great team, but so do we," said Canada legend and team captain Marie-Philip Poulin after the first two rivalry tilts. "It's going to be a battle."

With the 2026 Winter Olympics looming less than two months away, both PWHL and NCAA standouts will be using this week's final international window of the year to make their cases for roster spots in Milan, Italy.

With both teams stacked with talent, those who make the final cut are likely to come home with hardware this winter, as five-time champions Canada and the two-time title-winning USA remain the only nations to ever win Olympic gold in women's hockey.

How to watch the 2025 Canada vs. USA Rivalry Series

The puck drops on Game 3 of the annual hockey Rivalry Series on Wednesday before Team USA and Team Canada face-off for the final time in 2025 on Saturday.

Both games will begin at 9 PM ET, with live coverage airing on the NHL Network.

The Big Ten showed off its depth in women's basketball this week, as a record-tying nine teams from the conference made Monday's AP Top 25 poll.

With three teams — No. 4 UCLA, No. 6 Michigan, and No. 7 Maryland — still in the Top 10, the Big Ten has tied its own record for ranked squads set in December 2024, as No. 24 Nebraska joined this week's list following a 9-0 start to the 2025/26 NCAA basketball season.

"I've been honored to be a part of this league for the last 13 seasons, working on year 14, where I've watched the [Big Ten] just get better and better," said Michigan head coach Kim Barnes Arico after Monday's poll drop.

No Big Ten team had a more dramatic weekend than Maryland, who kept their season's unbeaten streak alive with a furious comeback to defeat unranked Minnesota 100-99 in double overtime on Sunday.

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by B1G Women’s Basketball (@b1gwbb)

Despite falling behind by nine points in the second overtime period, the Terrapins executed an 8-0 run in just nine seconds to put the game within reach, before guard Saylor Poffenbarger hit the game-winner with just 11 seconds remaining.

"Maryland has a standard," Poffenbarger said after her team-leading 30-point, 10-rebound double-double performance on Sunday. "When you come to Maryland, you know the things that come with it."

2025/26 AP Top 25 Women's College Basketball Poll: Week 6

1. UConn (9-0, Big East)
2. Texas (10-0, SEC)
3. South Carolina (9-1, SEC)
4. UCLA (9-1, Big Ten)
5. LSU (10-0, SEC)
6. Michigan (8-1, Big Ten)
7. Maryland (11-0, Big Ten)
8. TCU (10-0, Big 12)
9. Oklahoma (9-1, SEC)
10. Iowa State (10-0, Big 12)
11. Iowa (9-0, Big Ten)
12. UNC (9-2, ACC)
13. Baylor (9-1, Big 12)
14. Vanderbilt (9-0, SEC)
15. Kentucky (10-1, SEC)
16. USC (7-2, Big Ten)
17. Ole Miss (8-1, SEC)
18. Tennessee (6-2, SEC)
19. Notre Dame (6-2, ACC)
20. Washington (8-1, Big Ten)
21. Ohio State (7-1, Big Ten)
22. Louisville (8-3, ACC)
23. Oklahoma State (10-1, Big 12)
24. Nebraska (9-0, Big Ten)
25. Michigan State (8-1, Big Ten)

Florida State sits on top of the world of NCAA soccer once again, as the No. 3-seed Seminoles staged a 1-0 upset of overall No. 1-seed Stanford in Monday night's 2025 College Cup final to secure FSU's fifth national championship.

For the second time in two matches, sophomore forward Wrianna Hudson played hero by netting the Seminoles' lone goal, breaking Monday's deadlock in the 87th minute to snag the national title — and this year's Offensive Most Outstanding Player award.

"I'm honestly just so grateful. My team worked so hard and I'm so glad we got the [winning] outcome, because we really went through it this game," Hudson said after the match.

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Just Women’s Sports (@justwomenssports)

Hudson's game-winner capped an impressive team-wide defensive performance that snapped the Cardinal's 17-game unbeaten streak, with goalkeeper and Defensive Most Outstanding Player Kate Ockene staging nine saves to keep Stanford — and their NCAA tournament record-breaking offense —— scoreless in Monday's rematch of the 2023 College Cup final.

The Seminoles now own five of the last 12 NCAA trophies, with their 2025 College Cup title marking FSU's third championship in the last five years, proving they haven't slowed down since legendary head coach Mark Krikorian left the program to join the Washington Spirit's front office in 2022.

As for the Cardinal, Stanford will rue missed chances after outshooting Florida State 18-8 in Monday's title game.

With a now 3-4 overall record in College Cup finals, Stanford's focus shifts to next season, when they will again aim to secure their first NCAA soccer championship since 2019.