More of a Hate Relationship with Wimbledon

By Richard Pagliaro | @TennisNow | Thursday, July 10, 2025
Photo credit: Julian Finney/Getty

Amanda Anisimova transformed the famed Centre Court grass into a burial ground for Aryna Sabalenka’s Wimbledon dream.

No. 13-seeded Anisimova blasted her backhand with menace toppling world No. 1 Sabalenka, 6-4, 4-6, 6-4 to advance to her maiden Wimbledon final.

It’s the third straight SW19 semifinal setback for Sabalenka, who conceded she has “more of a hate relationship” with Wimbledon, but vowed she will continue to chase her dream of raising the Rosewater Dish.

“I lost three semis, three tough ones. Then I was banned from playing. Then I was injured,” Sabalenka said. “So I have really more of a hate relationship right now with Wimbledon, but I really hope that one day I will, yeah, turn it around and have love relationship.

“Of course, if one day I’m going to be able to win it, of course, I’m going to look back on all of these tough losses and think that I still did it. Yeah, now it’s tough, but I never give up, and I’m going to come back stronger, for sure.”

Sabalenka, who was up a break in the final set only to see Anisimova reel off four games in a row, credited the American as “the better player.”

The top-seeded Sabalenka summed up her emotional defeat simply: “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,” Sabalenka said. “But then you sit there a little bit, and you think about what you could have done differently on the match. I mean, you see stuff where you wasn’t at your best in the match. You see that the other player perform much better. You kind of, like, can see things better.”

“But the first moment always the worst one because every time you compete at that tournament, and you get to the last stages, you think that you’re getting close to your dream. Then you lose the match, and you feel like, okay, this is the end.”

Though Sabalenka gave Anisimova an embrace at net after bowing, she admitted to feeling friction on court vs. the 23-year-old American.

The sometime emotional Sabalenka said she was upset Anisimova didn’t apologize for a net-cord shot—it’s customary players raise a hand in apology though the sincerity of such gestures is questionable—and she felt Anisimova prematurely celebrated a point during the second set which annoyed the Belarusian.

“She was already celebrating it. I was, like, I mean, that’s a bit too early,” Sabalenka said. “Then she kind of pissed me off saying that, oh, that’s what she does all the time.

“I was grateful that she actually said that because I was, like, it’s actually help me to keep fighting. I’m like, okay, now I’m going to show you the tennis. So I came back because I got really angry in that moment. So probably in the third set I should have, like, remembered, and you know, probably will help. It is what it is.”

In the early stages of the final set, it appeared the WTA wins leader’s superior physicality and variety could carry her into her first Wimbledon final.

Ultimately, Anisimova played the pivotal points with bold aggression. Anisimova saved 11 of 14 break points and won 24 of 40 points played on her second serve (60 percent).

Pointing to her inability to convert more of those break points, Sabalenka said her return game cost her the match, while crediting Anisimova for being “more brave” when it mattered most. 

“I have to say that I did my best. I gave everything I had at the moment,” Sabalenka said. “Okay, return game didn’t work well. I still came back. I still had chances. Then the last game I didn’t serve. I mean, I did serve, but she just smashed my serves.

“I have to say that she was more brave today. Maybe when I was just, like, trying to stay in the point, she was, like, going for all — she was playing more aggressive. Sometimes I was just stopping my arms, making like mistakes which I shouldn’t be making.

“I think I should have been a little bit more brave today and remember that I’m on the top of the ranking, and I can do that. I think at some point at the match I forgot about that.”