Anisimova, the American 13th seed, shattered Sabalenka’s Wimbledon title bid on Thursday, July 10, with a tense 6-4, 4-6, 6-4 victory. World number one Sabalenka had reached the previous three Grand Slam finals but came up short against Anisimova, who matched her blow for blow in a bruising encounter lasting just over two and a half hours. “This doesn’t feel real right now, honestly,” said Anisimova. “Aryna is such a tough competitor and I was absolutely dying out there. I don’t know how I pulled it out. We’ve had so many tough battles and to come out on top and be in the final of Wimbledon is incredible.”
Anisimova was hailed as a teenage sensation after reaching the 2019 French Open semi-finals aged just 17. But in 2023, she took an eight-month break from the court for mental health reasons, tumbling out of the top 400. This time last year, she was on the comeback trail but was ranked too low to get into the Wimbledon main draw and fell in qualifying. Since then, she has climbed quickly and is guaranteed to make her top-10 debut on Monday.
Defeat was a bitter blow for Sabalenka, who has still never been beyond the semi-finals at Wimbledon. The 27-year-old won last year’s US Open to collect her third major, but suffered agonizing defeats in the finals of this year’s Australian Open and French Open.
“Losing sucks,” she said. You feel like you are getting close to your dream and then this is the end. You always feel like you want to die and not exist anymore,” she said. “But then you sit there a little bit and think about what you could have done differently.” The 23-year-old will face Polish eighth seed Iga Swiatek in Saturday’s final.
Swiatek routs Bencic
Five-time Grand Slam champion Swiatek, not previously known for her prowess on grass, demolished former Olympic champion Belinda Bencic 6-2, 6-0 in just 71 minutes on Centre Court. “Honestly, I never even dreamed that it’s going to be possible for me to play in the final,” said the 24-year-old eighth seed. “I thought I had experienced everything on the court, but I didn’t experience playing well on grass, so that’s the first time. I’m super excited and just enjoying it.”
In baking conditions, Swiatek caught her Swiss opponent cold, racing into a 3-0 lead, and never relinquished her grip against her 35th-ranked opponent. Bencic, who won gold at the Tokyo Olympics in 2021, at least got on the board in the first set, but in the second set, the rampant Swiatek went up another gear and her opponent had no answers.
Swiatek has largely gone under the radar at this year’s Wimbledon, dropping just one set so far while every seed above her has been eliminated. Four of her five major wins have come on the clay of the French Open, with her previous best performance at Wimbledon a run to the quarter-finals in 2023. Swiatek has won all five of her Grand Slam finals but standing in the way of a sixth major title is Anisimova in their first professional meeting.
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