"Much needed with tennis overshadowed by Jannik Sinner's scandal";"Poetic justice" - Fans react to Amanda Anisimova's impressive Qatar Open triumph

Amanda Anisimova stormed to a 6-4, 6-3 win over Jelena Ostapenko to win the 2025 Qatar TotalEnergies Open title. After the American's maiden WTA 1000 title triumph, fans poured in with their reactions to her win, with some bringing up the name of her ex-coach Darren Cahill, who abruptly cut short their collaboration in 2022. Right now, Cahill is serving as a coach for ATP No. 1 Jannik Sinner, who is embroiled in a doping controversy.

23-year-old Amanda Anisimova produced a rock-solid display against 2017 French Open champion Jelena Ostapenko, carving out 12 break-point opportunities, five of which she converted. The American was also effective with her first serve, leaving the Latvian searching unsuccessfully for solutions throughout the contest. Anisimova is now set to make her WTA Top 20 debut.

Some fans on X (formerly Twitter) revisited ATP No. 1 Jannik Sinner's coach Darren Cahill's split from Amanda Anisimova in 2022 after a brief collaboration. Among these fans were those who suggested that Anisimova's title triumph in Doha is a welcome relief for tennis in general, with the sport under considerable scrutiny after Sinner controversially accepted a three-month ban for failing two anti-doping tests last year.

"Two American women with great comeback stories in tennis in 2025, between Anisimova and of course Madison Keys (2025 Australian Open women's singles champion). Much needed with tennis otherwise overshadowed by Sinner's doping scandal," a fan wrote.

"Poetic justice to see amanda thriving and winning her biggest title on the same day darren cahill, the man who abandoned her for another player and pretty much stalled her career gets that same player suspended for doping," commented another.

"It is a good thing that the Australian drug peddler (referring condescendingly to Cahill), finally gets out of coaching this year. Still he bulls**ted his way into another 3 GS(maybe more) and world number 1," another chimed in.

There were others who lauded Amanda Anisimova's resurgence, particularly after experiencing multiple personal tragedies over the years.

"Anisimova is such a talented player. She had to deal with the loss of her father/coach at 17 which no doubt had an affect on her development. But hopefully those issues are behind her and now she can fulfil her potential, which is a multi slam winner player," wrote one fan.

"So well deserved for Amanda after everything she’s been through from her dad’s passing to her mental struggles," added another.

"So pleased for Amanda, she’s played amazing the whole tournament! She’s definitely Top 10 material, just needs the consistency," yet another fan weighed in.

In March 2022, Darren Cahill spoke up about his decision to stop working with Amanda Anisimova.

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"My mind was exhausted" - Darren Cahill in 2022 on coaching split with Amanda Anisimova

Darren Cahill at the 2025 Australian Open (Source: Getty)

Darren Cahill began working with Amanda Anisimova at the start of 2022, shortly after pulling the curtain down on six years as Simona Halep's coach. While the collaboration began brightly with a title triumph for Anisimova at the 2022 Melbourne Summer Set, it ended sooner than expected, which Cahill explained later via an Instagram post.

"I arrived in the US about 3 days before heading to Indian Wells and didn’t feel right. After the second day on court with Amanda, I quickly realized that there was no way I was going to be able to go the distance and give her the attention and care needed to do the coaching job properly," Cahill said.

"It’s not easy to explain but since emerging from the enforced 28-day quarantine late last year in Australia, I’ve had trouble getting going. That was on the back of 14 days’ quarantine before the AO in 2021, and then 9 months abroad because of our border restrictions and quarantine rules. After spending 28 days over analyzing and critiqing every coaching move, my mind was exhausted," he added.

Darren Cahill joined Jannik Sinner's coaching setup in July 2022. Alongside Simone Vagnozzi, Cahill orchestrated the Italian's rise to ATP No. 1 last year and three Major title triumphs. With Sinner now set to serve his three-month ban, the Italian and his entourage are expected to feature at the 2025 Italian Open in May, a prestigious Masters 1000 event in the buildup to this year's French Open.