We didn’t see it, when the draw was made two long weeks ago. Nobody spotted that the insuperable hurdle between Aryna Sabalenka and her first Wimbledon final would be Amanda Anisimova.
Just a year ago, the former teen prodigy couldn’t get through Qualifying here. Twelve months on, still walking the long road back from so many difficult trials of life during her 23 years, she stood four-square between the No.1 seed and the final Sabalenka yearned for, and never yielded.
In the six weeks since their last meeting, when the three-time Grand Slam champion dismissed Anisimova on the Roland-Garros clay, the American had pocketed a career-best 11 wins on grass.
The No.13 seed brought all that eager learning about the surface into this match, along with some handy statistics – her 5-3 winning record against the world No.1, and the knowledge that there is no other player on the Tour she has beaten more often.
Moreover, in her last 28 matches before this one, when Anisimova had won the first set, she had taken the match.
Of course, these statistics are never self-fulfilling. Sooner or later, that one will be overturned. Just not this time.
To call the contest magnificent is to undersell it by a distance. Momentum lurched to and fro, the players’ resourcefulness apparently infinite.
Three match points slipped through the American’s fingers, until after two hours and 37 stupendous minutes, she grasped the fourth. Anisimova broke Sabalenka’s heart 6-4, 4-6, 6-4, and is in the final at Wimbledon 2025.
“This doesn’t feel real right now,” said Anisimova, looking dazed as she waved at her family in her player box. “I was dying out there. Aryna is such an incredibly tough competitor, such an inspiration to me and so many other players.
“We’ve had so many tough battles and to come out on top, to get into the final at Wimbledon was incredibly special.
“To be honest, if you told me I would be in the final of Wimbledon, I would not believe you – especially not this soon. It’s been a year turnaround.
“So many dreams of competing on this court. It’s such a privilege. To be in the final is just incredible.”
First things first. The outcome here wasn’t about Sabalenka’s overt emotions stifling her best tennis, as the No.1 seed felt was the case in her defeat to Coco Gauff at Roland-Garros last month.
They weren’t a factor. Anisimova was just better, which may not be any easier for the No.1 seed to live with.
Speaking later, Sabalenka was determined to retain her composure, just as she had throughout the match.
“Losing sucks,” she said frankly. “You always feel like you want to die, you don’t want to exist any more, and this is the end of your life. The first moment is always the worst when you get to the last stages in a tournament because you’re getting so close to your dream.
“I gave everything I had. Then the last game she just smashed my serves.
“She was the better player. I should have been a little bit more brave, and remembered I’m top of the rankings. At some point in the match I forgot that. I have to trust myself, remind myself ‘you can do anything on the court’.
“These tough defeats only help me come back stronger. Next year I’m only going to be hungrier and angrier so I have high hopes for next year.”
In this match the two of them crafted an opening chapter of enthralling quality and intrigue, culminating in a six-deuce, 10 minute game. Anisimova’s backhand – causing so many problems all afternoon – fired across the court for her second set point, and Sabalenka stunningly double-faulted.
In the second set, Anisimova, her level dropping just enough, did the same to give Sabalenka a 4-3 lead. And yet still the No.1 seed had to work her socks off to get the set over the line.
With Anisimova looking shattered, the No.1 seed was a rampant favourite for victory. But those who had seen the American’s rollercoaster fourth round tussle against Linda Noskova remembered how she had coaxed the momentum conclusively back her own way when it hadn’t seemed possible. This one wasn’t done yet.
Plenty thought it was when Sabalenka slapped in a lightning break to love right at the start of the third set. Surely now she was on course for her third straight Grand Slam final of 2025.
Yet Anisimova levelled, and the two of them rolled on in this brilliant battle of body and mind, with one another and with themselves. It was impossible to look away.
One point from the final at 5-4, Anisimova wavered to let Sabalenka back in. Between points she looked utterly drained. But her years in elite tennis had already set her tougher tests than this.
Two years ago she took a seven-month career break, exhausted by the relentless demands of elite competition. She found her way back from that place, and she did the same here.
The woman nobody saw coming is one match away from lifting the Venus Rosewater Dish.
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