World The American Amanda Anisimova astonished the Belarusian by defeating Aryna Sabalenka, who is ranked first, and earning her first Grand Slam final berth, ending her quest to win Wimbledon on Thursday. On the Centre Court, the No. 13 seed, who was the first person born in the twenty-first century to make it to the Wimbledon final, triumphed in the women's singles semifinal with a score of 6-4, 4-6, 6-4.

Since Serena Williams ten years ago, Sabalenka has been attempting to be the first woman to compete in four straight Grand Slam finals. Prior to placing second in Melbourne and Paris, where she lost to Madison Keys and Coco Gauff, respectively, she won the US Open in September 2024 for her third major, having missed Wimbledon the previous year due to a shoulder injury.

Following the elimination of the remaining top-5 seeds by the second day of the competition, the two-time Australian Open champion was the clear favorite in London. However, as she was only two victories away from winning her first Wimbledon title on Thursday, she was defeated by the cool and collected Anisimova, who stole the show with her sharp groundstrokes, especially on the backhand side.

In 2019, the 23-year-old experienced her first major semifinal loss at the French Open at the age of 17, making this her second such experience. She took a break from the tour in May 2023, citing a yearlong battle with her mental health that had even caused her to fall outside the top 400.

This was Anisimova's sixth victory over a Top 5 player in her career, but it was also her first win against a current World No. 1. By the way, four of those victories were against Sabalenka, giving her a 6-3 head-to-head record against the three-time Grand Slam champion.

"This doesn't feel real right now," Anisimova remarked after winning the two-hour, thirty-six-minute match with a forehand winner on her fourth match point. "I'm not sure how I managed to get it out."

The 23-year-old will now wait for the conclusion of the second women's singles semifinal match between Belinda Bencic and eighth-seeded Iga Swiatek.

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