Anisimova and Swiatek Reach the Final, Wimbledon Will Produce a New Champion

LONDON, THURSDAY — Since the conclusion of the third round, Wimbledon 2025 has already ensured that a new champion will emerge in the women's singles category. Now, the potential champions have narrowed down to Amanda Anisimova and Iga Swiatek, who have successfully advanced to the final match of the Grand Slam tournament.

Amanda Anisimova continued her comeback story by advancing to the Wimbledon final for the first time in her career. Her method of reaching the final was impressive. Anisimova defeated world number one Aryna Sabalenka 6-4, 4-6, 6-4 at the All England Club in London on Thursday (July 11, 2025).

More than two years ago, Anisimova decided to take a break from tennis due to mental exhaustion. A year ago, while attempting to return to the world of tennis, this American player lost when she had to go through the Wimbledon qualifying rounds.

Anisimova could not automatically qualify for the main draw due to her ranking at that time, which was 189, being too low. To qualify directly for Wimbledon without going through the qualifiers, a player must be ranked higher than 104 in the world approximately six weeks before the tournament.

Now, Anisimova has reached the Wimbledon final for the first time, marking her first moment in reaching the final of a Grand Slam tournament. The best achievement of the 23-year-old tennis player previously was the semifinals at the 2019 French Open.

Iga Swiatek

Amanda Anisimova

"It feels surreal right now," Anisimova said after ending the 2-hour, 36-minute match with a forehand winner on her fourth match point. "I was really struggling in the match. I don't know how I managed to win."

"If you told me I would reach the Wimbledon final, I would not believe it. At least not this quickly, as it has been a year since I returned and found myself in this position, it is truly not easy. Honestly, being able to reach the final is simply indescribable," said Anisimova.

From May until the end of 2023, Anisimova decided to take a break from competition due to her inability to cope with pressure, which led to mental health issues. She made her return in 2024 with her best achievement being the final of the WTA 1000 in Canada.

For Sabalenka, this defeat prevents her from becoming the first female tennis player 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 due to a shoulder injury, and then won the US Open in September to claim her third Grand Slam title.

Sabalenka and Anisimova exchanged powerful shots and loud screams. Sabalenka hit the ball at speeds reaching 120 miles per hour, while Anisimova reached 112 miles per hour. They concluded points quickly due to the aggressiveness of their serves.

The average point exchange ended after only three strokes. Ultimately, 167 out of a total of 214 points lasted less than five strokes, and only seven contained nine strokes or more.

In the final on Saturday (12/7/2025), Anisimova will face Iga Swiatek, who is a five-time major tournament champion. For Swiatek, this will also be her first Wimbledon final, achieved through a victory of 6-2, 6-0 over Belinda Bencic.

Swiatek was dominant throughout the match and secured victory in 71 minutes with a serve speed of up to 119 miles per hour and twice as many winners, 26, as unforced errors, 23. This shows that Swiatek can play well on grass.

"Tennis continues to surprise me. I thought I had gone through everything, even though I am still young. I thought I had experienced everything on the court. But I do not feel that I play well on grass courts. This is the first time," said Swiatek.

Grass courts present the biggest challenge for Swiatek, unlike other types of surfaces. Swiatek has a record of five victories from five major tournament finals, four of which were on the clay courts of the French Open and one on the hard courts of the US Open. However, at Wimbledon, her best achievement prior to this was reaching the quarter-finals.

The winner of the final match will become the new women's singles champion at Wimbledon. The emergence of a new champion at Wimbledon has actually been assured since the conclusion of the third round, after former Wimbledon champions were eliminated in the early stages.

The 2024 Wimbledon champion, Barbora Krejcikova, was eliminated in the third round after losing to American player Emma Navarro. Meanwhile, the 2023 champion, Marketa Vondrousova, was defeated in the second round by local favorite Emma Raducanu. Additionally, the 2022 Wimbledon champion, Elena Rybakina, lost in the third round to Danish player Clara Tauson.

They are the three remaining former champions who are still actively playing professional tennis. Five other former champions, Ashleigh Barty (Wimbledon 2021), Simona Halep (2019), Angelique Kerber (2018), Garbine Muguruza (2017), and Serena Williams (2016), have already retired.

Since 2016, when Serena last won the Wimbledon title, the women's singles champion has changed every year. In the eight tournaments held from 2016 to 2024, eight different champions have emerged. Since Serena's victories in 2015 and 2016, no women's singles player has been able to defend the title or win more than once at Wimbledon. (AP)