LONDON (Reuters) – Amanda Anisimova tore up the script and soared into her maiden Wimbledon final by outclassing world number one Aryna Sabalenka with fierce determination and fearless shot-making on Thursday and will meet Iga Swiatek for a shot at Grand Slam glory.
Anisimova’s 6-4, 4-6, 6-4 victory extended her record over her equally powerful rival to 6-3, and kept alive American dreams of a third women’s Grand Slam champion this year after Madison Keys won the Australian Open and Coco Gauff won the French Open.
Standing in her way will be five-times major winner Swiatek, who continued her new-found love affair with grass this year to blaze into her first final at the All England Club with a breezy 6-2, 6-0 demolition of Tokyo Olympic champion Belinda Bencic.
In Saturday’s final, Anisimova, 23, will look to become the first American to win Wimbledon since Serena Williams in 2016.
“This doesn’t feel real right now, honestly,” a beaming Anisimova said shortly after her big battle.
On an oven-like Centre Court where the temperature climbed to 30 degrees Celsius, Sabalenka twice rushed to the aid of ill fans by supplying bottles of cold water and an ice pack, before she cracked under pressure from her opponent in the 10th game.
Anisimova, competing in her first Grand Slam semi-final since her 2019 French Open run as a gifted teenager, made her opponent sweat for every point and wrapped up the opening set when the Belarusian produced a double fault.
With her back against the wall, Sabalenka fought like a tiger, the animal that has become her totem, and broke for a 4-3 lead en route to levelling the match at one set apiece after some sloppy errors from 13th seed Anisimova’s racket.
Having matched each other’s decibel levels in a cacophony of grunting, the duo swapped breaks at the start of the decider, but Anisimova pounced again when Sabalenka sent a shot long and went on to reach the showpiece match.
Anisimova, who took a mental health break in 2023, said that making the final of a Grand Slam for the first time at Wimbledon left her in complete disbelief.
The 27-year-old Sabalenka, who was beaten in the Australian and French Open finals, was left to lick her wounds after missing the chance to become the first woman since Williams in 2014-15 to reach four straight major title matches.
It was a more straightforward path to the final for Swiatek, the claycourt specialist who had never got past the last eight at Wimbledon before this year, as she broke Bencic twice in the first set and three times in the next to romp to victory.
Saturday’s title showdown will crown a new Wimbledon champion for the eighth successive year.