Just under two months removed from a Wimbledon nightmare, Amanda Anisimova is on the cusp of a U.S. Open dream.

World No. 2 Iga Swiatek was on the other side of the net for both scenarios, but Anisimova looked like a different player Wednesday as she defeated the Pole 6-4, 6-3 to reach the semifinals of the U.S. Open for the first time in her career.

Anisimova, 24, on Thursday will play Naomi Osaka, who defeated Karolina Muchova 6-7, 7-6 (3).

“Today is definitely the most meaningful victory I’ve had in my life,” Anisimova said matter-of-factly.

This was the ultimate clap back for Anisimova, who embarrassingly double-bageled in her last meeting with Swiatek in the Wimbledon final in July. At the time, Anismova wanted to forget about it, bury it and move on.

What weighed on her the most, however, was thinking about all the fans who paid to see a competitive match and instead got her 57-minute thrashing.

Anisimova did not watch it back, until the eve of her rematch with Swiatek.

“Nobody told me to,” she said, later adding that a rerun of the Wimbledon final was playing in the gym before she walked out on Ashe. “But I watched them back, as painful as it was. Just to see what I could avoid or what went wrong. And then after, I had to watch some good highlights. I think it was important for me to see what happened last night going into today’s match.”

Not only did she get her revenge with a win, but she did it in convincing fashion at her home slam.

Anisimova, who was born in Freehold, N.J., brought power, precision and poise to the court on Wednesday. She consistently hit balls deep, seemingly placing them exactly where she wanted to more often than not.

The Arthur Ashe Stadium crowd was with Anisimova every step of the way, encouraging her through the tough points and cheering her through her dominant stretches.

Not many players have a better story to cheer for than Anisimova, who has battled through the grief of losing her father/coach in 2019, several injuries, a mental health break from the sport in 2023 and her own inconsistent play to get back to this form.

Just a year ago, Anisimova lost in Wimbledon qualifying. Just over seven weeks ago, she was crying on Centre Court.

“It didn’t really matter for me,” Swiatek said when asked about coming into this match after dominating Anisimova in their prior meeting. “I think everybody knows how Amanda can play. Yeah, she didn’t play well in Wimbledon, but it’s not like she’s always going to do the same mistakes or feel the same.

“It was totally different. Like, she moved better, she played better. Yeah, everything was different.”

Some 23,000 fans gave Anisimova a standing ovation at the conclusion of the first set. You can only imagine the way they roared when the match ended.

A net cord allowed Anisimova to hold for 4-3 in the second set, but Swiatek’s double-fault in the next game set the American up to serve for the match. It took three match points before Anisimova won on another net cord.

After going down an early break in the first set, Anisimova was adamant in her celebration when the zero turned to a one. It was stressful, she admitted, but once she got on the board, some of the stress was alleviated.

“I have that belief in myself and that confidence that I’m able to play at the top level and I’m able to really go head-to-head with these top three and everyone who’s in the top 10,” she said. “I’ve shown that, and I think I was able to prove that to myself time and time again for a long time now. It’s really competitive these days, and also the Grand Slams are really tough. I’m just really pleased to make it this far for the first time.”