In the end, Amanda Anisimova didn’t have to think, and that was probably a good thing.
With her opponent, Aryna Sabalenka, serving at 4-5 in the third set, Anisimova lined up to try to close out the match, and make the Wimbledon final, for the fourth time. She had squandered one match point in her previous service game, and two more on Sabalenka’s serve. A few moments ago, Anisimova had been up 0-40, and appeared to be home free. Now it was 30-40. If the game went to deuce, how would she react? The American’s swings on her previous match points had been more than a little nervy.
“I was absolutely dying out there,” Anisimova told the crowd later.
So maybe it was a blessing that Sabalenka drilled a serve down the middle, which meant that Anisimova had no time to worry about what she should do with her return; she just stepped in and drilled it back. And maybe it was even more of a blessing that Sabalenka hit her first ground stroke deep and down the middle, again giving Anisimova little time to choose her response. She swung up and out on her forehand, with no sign of tightness, and the ball sailed crosscourt and toward the corner.
Sabalenka, who had moved forward, was caught off guard and had to scramble back to try to catch up with the ball. For a second, it looked as if it would fly long. Instead, it dropped a few inches inside the baseline, leaving Sabalenka to flail futilely in its wake. Just like that, her comeback was over, and Anisimova was a Grand Slam finalist.
“It was such a tough match and a little bit of a roller coaster there,” Anisimova said after her 6-4, 4-6, 6-4 victory. “I think we were both a bit shaky throughout the match. That showed.”