Amanda Anisimova upsets No. 1 Aryna Sabalenka at Wimbledon to reach her first Grand Slam final

LONDON AP A little more than two years ago Amanda Anisimova took a break from tennis because of burnout A year ago working her way back into the event the American lost when she had to go through qualifying for Wimbledon because her ranking of th was too low to get into the main bracket automatically Look at Anisimova now She s a Grand Slam finalist for the first time after upsetting No -ranked Aryna Sabalenka - - - in a compelling contest at a steamy Centre Court on Thursday The th-seeded Anisimova who was born in New Jersey and grew up in Florida was playing in her second major semifinal after losing at that stage at the French Open at age This doesn t feel real right now Anisimova noted after ending the -hour -minute contest with a forehand winner on her fourth match point I was absolutely dying out there I don t know how I pulled it out She will face either Iga Swiatek or Belinda Bencic on Saturday for the trophy The winner will be the eighth consecutive first-time Wimbledon women s champion In May Anisimova took time off saying she had been struggling with my mental fitness for nearly a year Now she is playing as well as ever her crisp groundstrokes particularly on the backhand side as strong and smooth as anyone s She is guaranteed to break into the top of the WTA rankings for the first time next week no matter what happens in the title match If you stated me I would be in the final of Wimbledon I would not believe you Anisimova disclosed with a laugh At least not this soon because it s been a year turnaround since coming back and to be in this spot it s not easy To be in the final is just indescribable honestly For Sabalenka - in semifinals at the All England Club this defeat prevented her from becoming the first woman to reach four consecutive Grand Slam finals since Serena Williams won four major trophies in a row a decade ago Sabalenka missed Wimbledon last year because of an injured shoulder then won the U S Open in September for her third Slam title She was the runner-up to Madison Keys at the Australian Open and to Coco Gauff at the French Open where Sabalenka s post-match comments drew criticism and led her to apologize both privately to Gauff and publicly Sabalenka and Gauff smoothed things over before the start of play at the All England Club dancing together and posting videos on social media On Thursday Sabalenka began her news conference with as simple a comment as can be She was the better participant then laughed Losing sucks you know she added in response to the first question from a reporter You consistently feel like you don t want to exist anymore Anisimova the youngest American woman in the Wimbledon final since Williams was in improved to - against Sabalenka and was every bit the equal of the -year-old Belarusian as two of the hardest hitters in the competition traded booming shots and loud shouts throughout They both smacked big serves Sabalenka reached mph Anisimova mph and groundstrokes Both looked to end points swiftly frequently applying first-strike aggressiveness The average exchange was over after just three shots By the end of the total points lasted fewer than five strokes and just seven contained nine or more Likely a good thing too given the heat The temperature hit degrees Fahrenheit degrees Celsius in the first set which was delayed twice because spectators in the lower level with no shade felt unwell Sabalenka went over to offer water bottles and a blue ice pack that she was using to keep cool during changeovers Anisimova draped a white ice-filled towel around her neck while seated on the sideline One key to the outcome Anisimova saved of the break points she faced There was a particularly lengthy shout by Sabalenka in the second set shortly after she was angered when Anisimova made chosen noise during another back-and-forth When the championship ended with Sabalenka making the number -all she let out another scream Sabalenka who double-faulted to end the opening set pulled even by closing the second set with a mph arrangement winner Then she broke to begin the third Could have been daunting for Anisimova Instead she didn t waver using a four-game run for a - lead that soon was - Only then did chosen tension arrive anew as Anisimova let her first match point get away at - with a wide backhand and Sabalenka broke for - Anisimova stayed right there and with another break she had won then covered her mouth with her right hand AP tennis https apnews com hub tennis Source