London, July 10
Amanda Anisimova of the United States produced the performance of her career, toppling top seed Aryna Sabalenka 6-4, 4-6, 6-4 to reach her first-ever Grand Slam final at Wimbledon 2025 here on Thursday.
The 23-year-old American, seeded No. 13, held her nerve in a gripping two-hour, 36-minute battle in the women's singles semifinals to notch her sixth career win over a Top 5 opponent—and her first against World No. 1.
She has thus become the first American player since Serena Williams in 2019 to reach the ladies' singles final.
With this victory, Anisimova also extended her strong record against Sabalenka to 6-3, underlining her comfort in the high-pressure moments of this increasingly intense rivalry. Her reward is a place in the Wimbledon final, making her the first player born in the 21st century to achieve the feat at SW19.
Fellow 2000s-born Iga ÅšwiÄ…tek has a chance to join her if she beats Belinda Bencic in the second semifinal to be played later in the day.
Anisimova’s rise to this point hasn’t followed a straight line. A teenage prodigy who broke through to the French Open semifinals at just 17 in 2019, she took a seven-month break in 2023 to prioritise her mental health. This time last year, she was ranked No. 189 and failed to qualify for Wimbledon, losing to Eva Lys in the preliminaries.
But her comeback since has been nothing short of remarkable. She surged into the Top 20 with a runner-up finish at the WTA 1000 event in Toronto last August, followed by a breakthrough WTA 1000 title in Doha earlier this year. With this win at Wimbledon, Anisimova is now assured of a Top 10 debut when the new rankings are released next week.
The semifinal appearance also marks a long-awaited return to the sharp end of a major. The six-year, 34-day gap between her first and second Grand Slam semifinal is the fourth-longest in the Open Era, behind only Mirjana Lucic-Baroni, Natasha Zvereva, and Lori McNeil. Interestingly, Bencic—her potential opponent in the final—sits just behind with a gap of over five years between major semifinal appearances.
— IANS
Reader Comments
As a tennis fan from Mumbai, I stayed up till 2 AM watching this match! Sabalenka's power vs Anisimova's precision was like watching a Bollywood thriller. That backhand down the line in the final game was pure class!
While I'm happy for Anisimova, I wish Indian tennis players could make such breakthroughs. Our sports system needs complete overhaul - too much focus on cricket while other sports struggle for basic facilities.
The way she handled pressure was amazing! Reminds me of Sania Mirza's fighting spirit. Hope this inspires more Indian girls to take up tennis seriously. We need more champions from our country!
Respectfully disagree with the hype - Sabalenka was clearly not at her best today. Too many unforced errors (42!). Anisimova played well but let's see if she can maintain this level against ÅšwiÄ…tek in the final.
The match was so intense! My whole family gathered around our TV in Delhi cheering. Grass court tennis is so different from hard courts - wish we had proper grass facilities in India to develop players for Wimbledon.
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