Amanda Anisimova is one step away from her first Grand Slam title.
The 23-year-old, 13th-seeded American upset top-seeded Aryna Sabalenka in the Wimbledon semifinals on Thursday, 6-4, 4-6, 6-4 to reach her first Grand Slam final.
She will face the winner of the Iga Swiatek-Belinda Bencic semifinal on Saturday.
Amanda Anisimova celebrates after winning against Belarus’s Aryna Sabalenka. AFP via Getty Images
Amanda Anisimova celebrates during her Wimbledon semifinal match against Aryna Sabalenka on July 10, 2025. Getty Images
Amanda Anisimova reacts after defeating Aryna Sabalenka at Wimbledon on July 10, 2025. AFP via Getty Images
Amanda Anisimova plays against Aryna Sabalenka in their Wimbledon semifinal match on July 10, 2025. Getty Images
“This doesn’t feel real right now, honestly,” Anisimova said in an on-court interview after the match. “I was absolutely dying out there. I don’t know how I pulled it out.”
Sabalenka won the second set and had appeared to take control of the match when she broke Anisimova at love to open the third. But Anisimova then won won four straight games to pull ahead for good.
Anisimova failed to serve it out on her first chance to close the match but broke Sabalenka in the following game to secure the career-changing victory.
She fittingly closed the match with a brilliant cross-court forehand winner.
Amanda Anisimova in 2019. Tamara Beckwith/NY POST
Amanda Anisimova in 2019. Tamara Beckwith/NY POST
Anisimova, who was ranked No. 189 last year, was once a teenage phenom, having reached the semifinals at the French Open when she was just 17.
But she hadn’t advanced that far in a Grand Slam again until this Wimbledon tournament.
She took a break from tennis in 2023 due to mental health concerns, skipping the final three majors that year after a first-round elimination at the Australian Open.
Aryna Sabalenka reacts during her Wimbledon semifinal match against Amanda Anisimova on July 10, 2025. Getty Images
Aryna Sabalenka reacts during her Wimbledon semifinal match against Amanda Anisimova on July 10, 2025. Getty Images
Anisimova is now 6-3 in her career against Sabalenka, who had defeated Anisimova in straight sets in the Round of 16 at this year’s French Open.
The 27-year-old Sabalenka, a three-time Grand Slam winner, reached the finals at this year’s Australian and French Opens.
