Wimbledon’s Anisimova Upsess Sabalenka ranked first, reaching the first Grand Slam final
LONDON – Amanda Anisimova defeated No. 1 Aryna Sabalenka 6-4, 4-6, 6-4 in Wimbledon on Thursday, reaching her first major final of her career in her first major final after taking a year off from tennis due to burnout.
Anisimova, the 13th seed, was born in New Jersey and raised in Florida, losing the second major semifinal at the 17-year-old French Open in the 2019 French Open.
In May 2023, she took a leave and said she was “struggling with my mental health” for nearly a year.
“It doesn’t feel real right now,” Anisimova said after her fourth match point finished a 2-hour and 36-minute match. “I don’t know how I pulled it out.”
She will face Iga Swiatek or Belinda Bencic on Saturday. The winner will be the eighth consecutive Wimbledon Women’s Championship.
For Sabalenka, who replaced Swiatek in January, the defeat prevented her from becoming the first woman to have four consecutive Grand Slam finals since Serena Williams a decade ago.
Anisimova, 23, plays the same as ever, with her crisp ground harsh, especially on the backhand side, as strong and smooth as anyone. After Wimbledon, she will guarantee her first-time WTA top ten, no matter what happens in the championship game – 12 months after losing to Grass-Court Major did not enter the main bracket.
Sabalenka missed Wimbledon a year ago with an injured shoulder before winning his third Grand Slam trophy last September.
In Williams’ competitions starting in 2014-15, she won four major titles in a row, the last woman to do so.
Sabalenka was runner-up for Madison Keys of the Australian Open in January and Coco Gauff at the French Open in June when Sabalenka’s post-match comments drew criticism and led her to apologize to Gauff. Sabalenka and Gauff smoothed things out at the All England Club before the Grassland Championships, dancing together on the grass in the main stadium and posting videos on social media.
