Wimbledon 2026: Anisimova advances with dominant display in opener against Gjorcheska

Amanda Anisimova made a purposeful start to her Wimbledon campaign with a commanding straight-sets victory over grand slam debutant Lina Gjorcheska.

In her first appearance at the tournament since last year's final, in which she was memorably beaten 6-0 6-0 by Iga Swiatek, Anisimova took just 61 minutes to wrap up a 6-3 6-2 win on Court No.2.

Only twice before in the Open Era had the previous year's runner-up lost their opening match in the women's singles at SW19: Hana Mandlikova (in 1982) and Eugenie Bouchard (in 2015).

It always looked highly unlikely Anisimova would join that list, as she broke to love in game four on the way to taking the first set.

The sixth seed broke again in game three of the second following a double-fault from Gjorcheska – one of eight she recorded on her major bow.

Although broken once more in her following service game, the North Macedonian rescued a match point to stay alive.

However, it only delayed the inevitable, with Anisimova's 17th winner completing a love hold and sealing victory. She did not offer up a single break-point opportunity to Gjorcheska across the contest.

Anisimova advances comfortably against history-making opponent

Anisimova maintains her perfect record against qualifiers in grand slam events, having now won all five such matches.

The American has also been victorious in four of her five first-round matches at Wimbledon, only losing to Magda Linette in 2021.

It was almost a procession to the second round, where she will likely receive a sterner test from former Australian Open champion Sofia Kenin, who defeated Eastbourne semi-finalist Petra Marcinko in straight sets.

Anisimova won 83% of her points on first serve, while converting three of her four break-point opportunities.

It was a swift exit for her opponent, who will have been disappointed not to have put up more of a fight in her first main-draw match at a major.

Nevertheless, Gjorcheska still made history, as the first North Macedonian to appear in a women's singles grand slam event during the Open Era.