Amanda Anisimova leaves Aryna Sabalenka in tears after hard master class at Wimbledon

The Summer of 2025 at The Championships in London is truly turning out to be a nightmare for the favourites. With the first two days at Wimbledon itself resulting in many casualties, the trend had to continue, or so it seems. On Friday at the Centre Court, Amanda Anisimova, an American by birth whose parents moved over from Russia, tore the form book to shreds as the 23-year-old dumped Aryna Sabalenka out. In the final on Saturday, Amanda will run into Iga Swiatek, another ‘surprise performer’ on grass.

Indeed, the story of the fortnight has been Aryna Sabalenka, her power game and how she is feared by most players. Some have described her game as robust, bordering on men’s tennis style, which is sadly a brazen and desperate attempt at portraying Aryna in a wrong shade. For those who have seen Aryna Sabalenka play, the early trend suggested she was in for a tough time against an American who is not as famous as Coco Gauff and many more before her who did well at Wimbledon.

Perhaps, keeping in sync with the big stage and being fearless, Amanda Anisimova showed how much she has improved in the last one year. The record books say, a year ago, she was not able to cruise through the qualifying. But then, what she churned out on Friday in front of a packed audience was sublime stuff as she throttled top seed Aryna Sabalenka 6-4, 4-6, 6-4 in two hours and 37 minutes.

Rewind to the French Open clay just three weeks back in Paris, Aryna Sabalenka had beaten Amanda. Perhaps, there was no pressure on the American and she has actually started relishing playing on Wimbledon grass, which now offers all the players a chance to churn out potent and patient strokes. Yes, before this, Aryna was more aggressive, more vicious, where she showed plenty of aggro and even volleys for variety, in previous rounds.

This match was different and the underdog tag suited Amanda Anisimova, as she was nervous in crunch situations but sealed victory. When she was giving fans a hard time by letting three match slip, the nervous energy was overflowing. Sure enough, realising that barging into the Wimbledon final does not happen so easily, Amanda sealed victory on the fourth match point. “This doesn’t feel right now,” said Anisimova, looking quite surprised after her win and waving to her family in the player box. “I was dying out there. Aryna is such an incredibly tough competitor, such an inspiration to me and so many players,” gushed Amanda Anisimova.

For those who have followed the past battles between the American and Aryna Sabalenka from Belarus, they have gone the tops seed’s way. If one looks at how the season had transpired for Aryna Sabalenka, a familiar trend is popping up. At the Australian Open final in Melbourne in January 2025, Aryna had lost to Madison Keys. Then, in Paris, she lost the trophy to Coco Gauff. Have the Americans become a bugbear for Aryna Sabalenka, she can best answer.

The feisty Belarusian has the build and power game to step up, but to not figure in the final on Saturday will hurt her. There is cause for concern, as losing on the big stage in succession at three different venues in three Majors in 2025 should lead to introspection and ideating with her think-tank. For those who say her game is best-suited for hard courts, there is now more reason to talk. As for Anisimova, this is a big break. “To be honest, if you told me I would be in the final of Wimbledon, I would not believe you,” she said.

How did Aryna handle the loss? Her immediate reaction was emotional. “Losing sucks. You always feel like you want to die, you don’t want to exist anymore and this is the end of your life. The first moment is always the worst when you get to the last stages in a tournament because you’re getting so close to your dream. I gave everything I had. Then the last game, she just smashed my serves,” said Aryna.

The acknowledgement that Amanda Anismova was the better player on court needs to be appreciated. After all, the contest was hot and so was the weather in London. Climate Change or something more can be debated later.