Sometimes a short match becomes a longer story.

A little over one hour into her quarter-final against Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova, Amanda Anisimova stood one game away from the simplest of victories and a maiden place in the last four at Wimbledon. 

And there she stayed for over half an hour, as match points came and went. From 2-5 Pavlyuchenkova – who battled not just her opponent but a cold throughout – fought back to push the set into a nerve-jangling breaker.

Five times the world No.50 had a chance to force a deciding set. But at 10-9 Anisimova found a magnificent return on her fourth match point, and at last crossed the line 6-1, 7-6(9), falling into the arms of her family at courtside. 

She will play No.1 seed Aryna Sabalenka for a place in Saturday’s final.

“That was such a battle today,” said the No.13 seed, cradling her nephew Jackson, two days shy of his fourth birthday. “I was up in the second set and then she started playing some unreal tennis.

“That tie-break was super stressful, so tough. I just kept fighting and I’m so happy I got it done. I’m very excited to be in the semi-final for the first time, and I’m so grateful that my sister and her husband flew in to experience this with me.”

On paper the American was bristling with advantages over her opponent – over a decade younger than 34-year-old Pavlyuchenkova, she led their career meetings 3-0 before this (albeit uniformly on hard court), while her career-best 10 wins on grass this summer had already guaranteed that she will pierce the top 10 for the first time when the post-Wimbledon rankings are released next Monday. 

In her first quarter-final in SW19 she was all but irresistible in the first set, despite struggling to find her serve. But with victory near, she trembled on the brink. We can only guess what she was thinking about in those moments…. Or perhaps who.

For this 23-year-old has come through so much to make it this far.

In February, she was ranked 41, and at the start of 2024 she was No.442 – yet as a 17-year-old, she had reached the 2017 Roland-Garros semi-finals.

It was not physical injury that pushed her ranking so low but the unbearable mental intensity of the tennis circuit. In that breakthrough year of 2017, her father and coach, Konstantin, died suddenly from a heart attack, a week before Anisimova’s 18th birthday.

Yet even though she has described it as “the worst thing that ever happened to me”, she attempted substantially to play through it. Finally, in 2023, it took its toll. With great wisdom, Anisimova took seven months out to restore her equanimity.

On her return, she slowly found the way forward. One year ago she couldn’t get through Qualifying into the main draw here, which she describes as “heartbreaking” – yet now she has equalled her 2017 Roland-Garros mark by reaching the last four at Wimbledon.

“It has been an extraordinary year for me,” she reflected. “So many highs. I am enjoying every step of the way. Even in times like today, I keep reminding myself to enjoy the moment. It’s not often you get to play on this special court in front of so many people. Thank you for the atmosphere – it was incredible.”

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