American tennis star Amanda Anisimova has advanced to The Wimbledon Championships final after defeating world No. 1 Aryna Sabalenka.
The 23-year-old New Jersey native won 6-4, 4-6, 6-4 in 2 hours and 37 minutes on Centre Court Thursday to reach the first Grand Slam final of her career.
"It's so incredibly special," the No. 13 seed said, adding "this doesn't feel real right now."
Now, she is the youngest American woman to advance to the Wimbledon finals since Serena Williams in 2004. Williams was also the last American woman to play in The Championships final in 2019.
"I know she's No. 1, but a lot of people were out cheering for me, so I just want to say a huge thank you to everyone," Anisimova said moments after the hard-fought three-set match, referring to her opponent.
"It's been a year turnaround since coming back, so to be in this spot, it's not easy," she continued. "It's been such a privilege to compete here, and to be in the final is just indescribable, honestly."
Tennis expert and New York Times sports writer Christopher Clarey pointed out an impressive stat, that Anisimova has won 28 consecutive matches when she has won the opening set.
On Thursday, that became 29 after the American singles star won the first set against Sabalenka in the Wimbledon semifinals.
Anisimova will go on to face Belinda Bencic or Iga Swiatek in the women's final on Saturday.
This matched Anisimova's best-ever Grand Slam singles result, having previously made it to the 2019 French Open semifinals at Roland-Garros.
As a result, next week, Anisimova will jump into the Top 10 of the PIF WTA Rankings for the first time in her career.
The 23-year-old took a break from tennis from May 2023 to January 2024 to focus on her mental health.
Since her return, Anisimova has reached the Canadian Open finals in August 2024, won the ATP Qatar Open in Doha in February, reached the French Open round of 16 and was a Queen's Club finalist in June.
