Aryna Sabalenka Explains What Went Wrong During Wimbledon Semifinal Against Amanda Anisimova: “I Should’ve Been Brave”

World No.1 Aryna Sabalenka suffered a defeat in a Grand Slam event once again to an American player this year.

Aryna Sabalenka Explains What Went Wrong During Wimbledon Semifinal Against Amanda Anisimova: “I Should’ve Been Brave”

Aryna Sabalenka, Amanda Anisimova (Image via X/Roland Garros, Wimbledon)

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Aryna Sabalenka will now have to wait for the US Open to start her bid for her fourth Grand Slam singles title. On Thursday (July 10), the Belarusian was pitted against a player who held a 5-3 head-to-head record over her before that match.

It was Amanda Anisimova, the third American player to beat the World No.1 in a Grand Slam tournament this year. Before her, Madison Keys had denied her the three-peat at the Australian Open; at the French Open, the 27-year-old lost to Coco Gauff. In both Melbourne and Paris, Sabalenka had progressed to the finals.

No woman on the WTA tour has performed more consistently than Sabalenka this season. She has so far played seven finals and has won titles in Brisbane, Miami, and Madrid. Unfortunately, Grand Slam titles have eluded her since her victory in last year’s US Open. At the press conference after her exit, Sabalenka analyzed her match and said which shot she could’ve played better that could’ve helped her to eke out the win.

I think it’s obvious today, my returning game was much worse. My returns were much worse compared to the matches before. I have to say I did my best. I gave everything I had in the moment. Okay, my return game didn’t work well. I still came back. I still had chances. Then the last game…she just smashed my serves.

Had Sabalenka won that match, she would have progressed to her third singles final on grass, following the 2018 Eastbourne International and the 2022 Rosmalen Grass Court Championships. She has not yet won a title on the surface.

I think I should’ve been a little more brave today and remembered that I’m on the top of the ranking and I can do that. At some point in the match, I forgot about that.

Aryna Sabalenka added

Anisimova will lift her career’s second Big Title if she captures the Wimbledon trophy. Last year, she lost to Jessica Pegula in the Canadian Open final but was successful in winning the Qatar Open this year by beating Jelena Ostapenko.

Wimbledon is the only Grand Slam event where Aryna Sabalenka has not yet reached the final

Wimbledon is the only Grand Slam event where Aryna Sabalenka has not yet reached the final. So far in her career, the three-time Grand Slam singles champion has played six Major singles finals- five on hard courts and one on clay.

Aryna Sabalenka
Aryna Sabalenka (via Punto de Break)

Thrice she has made it to the semifinals at Wimbledon. In her previous two appearances in the last four, Sabalenka was defeated by eventual runners-up Karolina Pliskova in 2021 and Ons Jabeur in 2023.

She had skipped the tournament last year due to an injury. The latest defeat has made Sabalenka even more determined to take home the grass-court Major one day.

It’s difficult to draw conclusions, but I genuinely hope to win here someday. I’ve lost three semifinals, all three very tough, one year I got injured, and another year I was banned from playing. Currently, I have more of a hate relationship with this tournament, but I really hope that at some point, I can turn that around and have love relationship.

Aryna Sabalenka said at the press conference

Anisimova will next lock horns with World No.4 Iga Swiatek, who she will be facing for the first time in her career. Both the players, before this season, were quarterfinalists in the London Major.

Last year, due to her rankings, Anisimova had to play in the qualifiers and couldn’t progress to the main draw. Swiatek, on the other hand, was defeated by Yulia Puntintseva in the third round.

Both the youngsters are chasing their first grass-court titles and prior to Wimbledon, both of them had played their first-ever grass-court final. Anisimova lost to Tatjana Maria in the Queen’s final, while the five-time Grand Slam champion was defeated in the Bad Homburg Open by Pegula.

Also read: Flavio Cobolli Believes He Deserved a Fifth Set After His Loss to Novak Djokovic at Wimbledon