World No. 12 Amanda Anisimova upset top-seeded Aryna Sabalenka 6-4, 4-6, 6-4 in the Wimbledon women’s singles semifinals and will head to her first Grand Slam final.
The match was delayed twice in the first set because of Centre Court fans not feeling well, but both players endured the heat in a match that took two hours and 37 minutes.
Anisimova, a 23-year-old American, will play the winner of the other semifinal between No. 4 Iga Swiatek and No. 35 Belinda Bencic in the final on Saturday. The last time an American woman won Wimbledon was when Serena Williams emerged victorious in 2016.
“This doesn’t feel real right now,” Anisimova said after the match. “I don’t know how I pulled it out.”
The loss by Sabalenka denied her a spot in a third straight Grand Slam final and, for the third straight time, she has been ousted by an American in a Grand Slam this year. She lost to Coco Gauff in the French Open final and to Madison Keys in the Australian Open final. Sabalenka was looking to become the first woman to reach four straight Grand Slam finals since Serena Williams a decade ago.
Anisimova, the last remaining American female in the draw, was broken for the first time in the match after being up 30-love during the seventh game of the second set, giving Sabalenka a 4-3 advantage.
In the first game of the third set, Anisimova was broken again, and broke back in the next game and then charged to win the next three games to take control of the match.
With the victory, Anisimova will at least surge to a career-high No. 7 in the next WTA rankings, while Sabalenka, despite the loss, will hold on to the No. 1 spot for the 39th straight week.
Before this year’s Wimbledon, Anisimova’s best performance in a Grand Slam tournament was reaching the semifinals of the French Open in 2019 at age 17 after upsetting defending champion Simona Halep.