London: The first of the ladies’ semifinals at Wimbledon was a monstrous affair – big shots, deafening decibel. It was also a contest that was decided by the slimmest of margins. The sun was at its blazing best, world No. 1 Aryna Sabalenka and American Amanda Anisimova, both 5’ 11”, brought out heavy artillery – off the ground and on the serve – and amplified the strikes with grunting and groaning that echoed across the grounds. Anisimova, who opened a 5-2 lead in the decider, closed out the match with a forehand winner on her fourth match point 6-4, 4-6, 6-4 after two hours and 36 minutes to make her maiden Grand Slam final. On Saturday, in the title match for the Venus Rosewater Dish, Anisimova will take on five-time Major winner Iga Swiatek, who put out comeback mom Belinda Bencic 6-2, 6-0.
There was no column that could tell the two players apart in the match statistics. Anisimova won two points more than Sabalenka in the total count, 108 to 106. The Belarusian had 31 winners and 37 unforced errors, while the American had 30 and 42. The 23-year-old saved 11 of 14 breakpoints and her rival checked-in at seven of 11. In the final set both players won 36 points each. Tennis, they say, is all about the big points and that’s how it played out on Thursday, where courtside temperatures hit 30 degrees and there were incidents in the stands where spectators needed medical attention. It was Sabalenka who struck first in the opening game of the third set and at 40-30 in the second game it looked like the top seed was finally breaking free, but Anisimova won the next four games. The American was broken when serving for the match, but she was able to close out in the next game. There were a few stares and glares between the players which added to the spice of the competition. For the world No. 1 it was a feeling that her territory – power game and intimidating grunts – was being invaded by another who could go just as big off the ground. ‘Why didn’t you say sorry?’ Sabalenka mouthed when Anisimova celebrated for a point she won aided by the net. Anisimova’s journey from the eight-month mental health break she took in May 2023, announcing that she had been struggling with mind issues and burnout since the summer of 2022, has been nothing short of staggering. The American lost her father Konstantin to a sudden heart attack in August 2019, months after she had made the Roland Garros semifinals as an 18-year-old. Anisimova returned to tennis in January last year and started the year ranked 373. She played the qualifying draw at Wimbledon six months later. Ranked at a career-high No. 12 coming into the tournament, having stacked up a 11-2 record on grass this season, she’ll break into the top-10 when the new rankings come out on Monday. “I really had to give it my all to fight there to get the win,” Anisimova said. “I was actually telling myself, you’re doing great. Just telling myself the opposite of what you normally tell yourself as a tennis player, and just (trying) to stay calm and go for it as much as I could. I had to keep my calm state so I could keep fighting.” In the boys doubles quarterfinals, Bangalore’s Krish Tyagi and South African Connor Doig went down to Kazhak Amir Omarkhanov and Russia’s Egor Pleashivtsev 4-6, 6-7 (8). In the under-14 girls singles, India’s Jensi Dipakbhai Kanabar went down fighting to Britain’s Liv Zingg 6-7 (5), 3-6.
