Amanda Anisimova tops Aryna Sabalenka in three sets, will face Iga Swiatek for Wimbledon title

Thursday at Wimledon was uncharted territory for Amanda Anisimova when it started, but by the time it ended, she was in a familiar position: beating Aryna Sabalenka.

The American came into her first career Grand Slam semifinal with a winning head-to-head record against the world No. 1, having won five of their first eight meetings. While that record included losses in three of the last four, the dominance of the younger player was a thread that lingered ahead of the match-up, which would've seen either winner advance to her first final at Wimbledon.

And after a two-and-a-half hour thriller, Anisimova reasserted that dominance on one of the biggest stages in tennis, and with it, earned a spot in her first Grand Slam final of any kind.

The No. 13 seed defeated Sabalenka for the sixth time in nine career matches 6-4, 4-6, 6-4 to become the third American woman to reach a Grand Slam final in 2025 following Madison Keys and Coco Gauff. She's the fourth consecutive female American Grand Slam finalist overall, including Jessica Pegula's runner-up effort to Sabalenka at the US Open last year.

The former US Open junior champion's major-stage breakthrough was long-expected, dating back to when she reached her first, and only previous, major semifinal at age 17 at Roland Garros six years ago. But the path there hasn't been easy; in 2023, Anisimova took a seven-month mental health break from tennis, and this time last year in the early stages of her comeback, was ranked No. 189 and lost in qualifying for the Championships.

Regardless of Saturday's result against No. 8 seed Iga Swiatek, who routed Belinda Bencic 6-2, 6-0, she will make her Top 10 debut at No. 7.

"This doesn't feel real right now," Anisimova said in her on-court interview.

“To be honest, if you told me I would be in the final of Wimbledon, I would not believe you, especially not this soon," she said. "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.”

Anisimova put herself on the precipice of the final with a dominant serving performance over more than an hour; she saved all four break points she faced in the first set—a hold from 0-40 at 3-3—and broke Sabalenka in a six-deuce final game where the top seed failed to convert five points for 5-5.

But Sabalenka, bidding for a third Grand Slam final appearance in 2025, broke for the first time in the match from 30-0 in the seventh game of the second set. The top seed's momentum continued early into the decider; she broke to start the final set, but handed her next two service games to Anisimova from a leading position. A point from being down 2-0, and even at 2-2, Anisimova instead moved ahead 4-1—and saved two break points in that fifth game for good measure.

“Aryna is such a tough competitor and I was absolutely dying out there. I don’t know how I pulled it out," Anisimova continued after closing it out on her fourth match point with a forehand winner—her 30th of the match.

"We’ve had so many tough battles and to come out on top, to get into the final at Wimbledon was incredibly special."