Gritty Amanda Anisimova battles past Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova in Wimbledon thriller to book semifinal showdown against Sabalenka

Amanda Anisimova achieved her goal against Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova by 6-1, 7-6(9), returning to a Grand Slam semifinal for the first time since the 2019 French Open. A year ago, the American fell in the third round of qualifying, but this time she secured her spot in the semifinals and is set to become World No. 8 – her career-high ranking.

The 23-year-old star capitalized on an erratic performance from Pavlyuchenkova, who never felt comfortable on serve, and whose unforced errors at crucial moments proved costly. Anisimova is now preparing to face Aryna Sabalenka in pursuit of her first Grand Slam final.

First Set

Anisimova quickly dictated the first set, securing an early break and then saving a break point against her to take a 2-0 lead. The day worsened for Pavlyuchenkova, who saw Anisimova save another break point for the second consecutive time, once again squandering an opportunity, as the 23-year-old went up 4-0.

Anisimova converted 2 out of 3 break points and saved both opportunities she faced. The American held onto her serve, and before the set concluded, she secured her third break to go up 6-1. Anisimova's 45% first-serve percentage mattered little, as she held her service games and particularly exploited her opponent's second serves, where Pavlyuchenkova failed to win a single point and committed 3 double faults.

Second Set

In the second set, the American appeared even more relentless on serve, winning over 70% of her service points. Pavlyuchenkova improved her serve and saved a couple of break points early in the set to keep it level at 2-2. However, the Russian never truly found her rhythm on serve, and Anisimova secured the break in the 6th game.

Anisimova built a 5-2 lead, which virtually put one foot in the semifinals. Pavlyuchenkova showed resistance in the final part of the set, holding her service game and creating three break opportunities at 3-5. When all seemed lost, the Russian, a former French Open runner-up, capitalized on the pressure on her opponent, and without doing too much, managed to get the break as her opponent made errors.

Pavlyuchenkova was serving to stay in the match and saved a couple of match points before leveling at 5-5. The American went up on her serve, and a little later Pavlyuchenkova was serving at 5-6, 0-30. However, the Russian managed to send it to a tie-break amidst errors from Anisimova, who seemed anxious to close out the victory.

The American went up 6-5 on her serve, and Pavlyuchenkova was serving at 5-6, 0-30. However, she managed to send it to a tie-break amidst errors from Anisimova, who seemed anxious to close out the victory. It was a crazy finish to the match, in which Pavlyuchenkova had five set points – three of them on her own serve – but Anisimova showed resilience to close out the 6-1, 7-6(9) victory.

In the semifinals, she will face World No. 1 Aryna Sabalenka, whom she played in the Roland Garros Round of 16 just a month ago. The American leads their head-to-head 5-3, though they have no previous encounters on grass courts.

Match Statistics Anisimova vs. Pavlyuchenkova