MELBOURNE -- If all goes according to plan for Emma Raducanu and Amanda Anisimova this year, you'll be seeing them a lot this year. Both players, who exploded on the teen as teenagers with prodigious talent and precocious personalities, have seen intermittent action over the past two seasons. Their struggles have been well documented. 

For Raducanu, her follow-up to the history-making turn as a qualifier to win the 2021 US Open has been snake-bitten with injuries. Anisimova stormed into her first Grand Slam semifinal as a 17-year-old at 2019 Roland Garros and hit a career-high later that year at No.21. But family tragedy and injuries would lead to an eight-month leave of absence for mental health reasons in 2023. 

Given their similar age, trajectories and travails, it's no surprise that the two have found each other and bonded on tour. On Thursday, Anisimova and Raducanu will face off for the first time in the second round of the Australian Open. 

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"We've both been around the tour," Anisimova told reporters after her 6-2, 6-3 win over Maria Lourdes Carle in the first round. "We're the same age. We also have a mutual friend, Priscilla Hon. We've hung out a few times all together. She's a nice girl.

"She's always bringing a good energy into the room. Also an amazing competitor. I'm looking forward to the match. I'm sure it will be a good one."

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Anisimova is no stranger to edge-of-your-seat thrillers at Melbourne Park. One of the most memorable matches of her career came in the third round in 2022, when she saved match points to edge Naomi Osaka 4-6, 6-3, 7-6[5]. It was a masterclass in booming baseline tennis and competitive grit under pressure. And it's a level that Anisimova begins 2025 confident she can touch again.

"I think last year had a lot of ups, for sure, and some downs," Anisimova said. She began 2024 ranked outside the Top 350 and finished inside the Top 40. Along the way, she made her first WTA 1000 final at the Rogers Cup in Toronto. "I was struggling with some injuries and just getting used to playing the full circuit again.

"I feel a lot more confident in myself now as opposed to last year when I was playing here. I still did pretty well last year, but I was kind of going into the tournament without any expectations. Just grateful to be playing. I feel like I have a bit more confidence on my back going into the Slam. Regardless of the result, I feel like I'm just building blocks up every single week and just working on the physicality and my skills every week."

Anisimova is reveling in getting back to the nuts and bolts of her career. She put the work in during her full preseason and says that work has formed the basis for her confident strides in Melbourne. Raducanu has taken a similar tact, adding experienced trainer Yutaka Nakamura to her team to build up her physicality for a full season. Nakamura worked with Osaka and Maria Sharapova through their Slam-winning stretches, and the 22-year-old Brit believes he can add the missing link to her young career. 

Raducanu started her season win a gritty win over No.21 seed Ekaterina Alexandrova in the first round on Tuesday, 7-6(4), 7-6(2). She fought off the blinding sun and 15 double faults but came through by outplaying Alexandrova on the big points. After the win, Raducanu was asked about the unique experience that she and Anisimova share of breaking through as teens.

"I think there are challenges in the sense of obviously you get a lot of attention," Raducanu said. "Maybe certain decisions are judged or what you're doing is potentially criticized.

"At the same time I feel like it's given us a great platform to be able to have opportunities, to be able to invest in our team, to be able to enjoy playing on big courts, for example. So even though there comes challenges, I think I want to look at the positive and optimistic side, as well."

Looking back on her rocket rise as a teenager, Anisimova says she wouldn't trade it for the world. 

"I think there are a lot of lessons that I had to learn," she said. "You grow up very quickly, but at the same time I feel like that really prepares you for your career.

"Like we both have so much ahead of us. At the same time we're very young and we have so much experience, so I feel like that serves us with a lot of positives.

"I feel like when I play these Slams, I handle the nerves better because I've been on so many big stages at a young age that comes with a lot of experience."

Asked whether she'll avoid Raducanu in the hallways of Rod Laver Arena over the next 48 hours, Anisimova shrugged off the suggestion. If there's one thing she's learned, there are more important things than a tennis match.

"I personally don't take it so seriously," Anisimova said. "It's not like we're going to war with each other. There's no need to kind of avoid each other at the end of the day. 

"But once we're on the court, we just try and put our best tennis out there and just enjoy it."