Iga Swiatek and Amanda Anisimova will contest the Wimbledon women’s singles final on Saturday after contrasting semi-final victories on Thursday. Swiatek, the five-time Grand Slam champion, breezed past Swiss world number 35 Belinda Bencic 6-2, 6-0 in just 71 minutes to reach her first final at the All England Club. The Polish eighth seed had never gone beyond the quarter-finals at Wimbledon before and is now into her second career grass final, following her run to the final in Bad Homburg two weeks ago. “Honestly, I never even dreamed that it’s going to be possible for me to play in the final,” Swiatek said. “I thought I had experienced everything on the court but I didn’t experience playing well on grass, so that’s the first time,” said the finalist, as quoted by AFP. Swiatek, 24, has not lost a Grand Slam final in her career so far and showed no signs of discomfort on the surface against the former Olympic champion Bencic.
She will now face Amanda Anisimova, who stunned world number one Aryna Sabalenka 6-4, 4-6, 6-4 in a bruising semi-final. “This doesn’t feel real right now, honestly,” said Anisimova, the 13th seed. “Aryna is such a tough competitor and I was absolutely dying out there. To come out on top and be in the final of Wimbledon is incredible.” Anisimova, who took an eight-month break from tennis in 2023 due to depression, had dropped outside the top 400. Now 23, she is set to break into the top 10 next week and is only the second woman in the Open era to reach a Slam final after losing in qualifying the previous year.
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Sabalenka, a Wimbledon semi-finalist for the third time, was left heartbroken again. She has lost six of nine meetings with Anisimova and missed the chance to reach her fourth straight Grand Slam final. “She was more brave today,” Sabalenka admitted. “I have more of a hate relationship with Wimbledon at the moment, but I hope to turn it around.”
