Her name is Amanda Anisimova.
If casual tennis fans didn’t know it before, they’ll know it now, after the 17-year-old American stunned defending champ Simona Halep at the French Open quarterfinals on Thursday.
Anisimova became the youngest U.S. woman to advance to the semifinal of a Grand Slam since Venus Williams at the 1997 U.S. Open, the New York Post noted. Anisimova whipped a backhand winner to end the match and blew kisses to the crowd.
Her convincing 6-2, 6-4 victory left her stunned.
“I can’t believe it,” she said, per Tennis.com. “I’ve been working so hard, I didn’t think it’d pay off like this. It’s more than anything I could have asked for.”
Tennis Channel announcer Ted Robinson proclaimed, “A star is born,” according to the Post. The tournament’s Twitter account dubbed her “Teen Queen.”
Anisimova is ranked 51st in the world and Halep is No. 3. So, yep, that’s an upset. Yet Anisimova has yet to lose a set in Paris, Tennis.com reported.
She was born in New Jersey and moved to Miami at age 3, according to her WTA bio. Her dad Konstantin, who emigrated from Russia in 1998, has been her coach.
Anisimova will play oppose eighth-seeded Ashleigh Barty in a semifinal on Friday.
Go get ’em, “Teen Queen.”