logo
Wimbledon semi-finals Live Updates: Aryna Sabalenka vs Amanda Anisomova underway

Wimbledon semi-finals Live Updates: Aryna Sabalenka vs Amanda Anisomova underway

India Today2 days ago
Decent service games thus far from Anisimova and Sabalenka as both players are looking to get into their groove. Sabalenka has had her troubles with her serves in the tournament and would want to be much more clinical.
The Amanda Anisomova vs Aryna Sabalenka semi-final stands at 1-1.
The first semi-final between Amanda Anisimova and Aryna Sabalenka on Centre Court is underway.
Sabalenka is the favourite on current form, but with a 5-3 head-to-head record over the World No.1, Anisimova will fancy her chances.
Sabalenka will also look to break her semi-final jinx at the All England Club.
The past favours Amanda Anisimova, who has a 5-3 lead over Aryna Sabalenka on the head-to-head count.
In Grand Slams, the record is 2-2, but it's the first time they will be locking horns at Wimbledon.
In their previous meeting in the Round of 16 at French Open 2025, Sabalenka beat Anisimova 7-5, 6-3.
Aryna Sabalenka and Amanda Anisimova will face each other in the first semi-final of the day on Centre Court.
For Sabalenka, it's her third semi-final at the All England Club. In 2021, Sabalenka lost to Karolina Pliskova while Ons Jabeur beat her in 2023. Will 2025 be third time lucky for the World No.1?
As for Anisimova, she will be playing in her maiden Wimbledon semi-final.
Sabalenka is the favourite, but Anisimova has the potential to spring a surprise.
Orange background

Try Our AI Features

Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:

Comments

No comments yet...

Related Articles

‘Couldn't resist': Roger Federer plays at Wimbledon again, four years since retirement
‘Couldn't resist': Roger Federer plays at Wimbledon again, four years since retirement

Indian Express

time43 minutes ago

  • Indian Express

‘Couldn't resist': Roger Federer plays at Wimbledon again, four years since retirement

It wasn't the typical regal setting for a scene when he hits the courts. The traditional all-white kits were not to be seen; perhaps passable even at Wimbledon when you are 'not a professional tennis player anymore'. Two years since updating his X (formerly Twitter) status and four since his last professional outing on grass, Roger Federer returned for a hit at the hallowed SW19, turning up at one of the training courts for a special jog down memory lane. The balletic movements haven't taken a hit either, as Federer, sporting a black and white Uniqlo outfit, sparred with his old rival Tommy Haas at the All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club, having been a member since his first Grand Slam triumph at Wimbledon in 2003. Federer and Haas have had several fierce contests together, including a memorable 2009 Wimbledon semi-final when the Swiss maestro snipped the German in straight sets en route to his sixth title. A post shared by Roger Federer (@rogerfederer) In a video posted on his Instagram account on Friday, Federer was seen hitting balls on a quaint court in silence with his wife Mirka watching on from the sidelines. 'Couldn't resist, Wimbledon,' his humble admission on the caption of the 40-second video post with Fleetwood's Mac's Dreams playing in the background. The overload of emotions had fans desperately calling on Federer for a proper comeback at his most favoured turf, one where he was crowned champion a record eight times, including five in succession. The unannounced hit on the training courts came days after Federer was seen in the Royal Box inside Centre Court for the earlier rounds of the men's and women's matches. Federer was in attendance for three Round of 16 matches, catching up on the action of his long-time rival Novak Djokovic against Alex de Minaur, Mirra Andreeva versus Emma Navarro, and Jannik Sinner's match with Grigor Dimitrov. Federer's storied Wimbledon career ended in agonyas he went down Hubert Hurkacz in the 2021 quarter-finals, also marking the end of his Grand Slam career. Earlier this year, Federer at the possibility of returning to the courts for exhibition games. 'Honestly, I'd love to play some more tennis again,' Federer had told TNT Sports. 'Enough with the golf, I've played so much. So seriously, I would love to start playing two or three times a week & hopefully get myself back on the exhibition court and fill up a few nice around the world. I have no plans yet. 'The training part, I miss it a little bit. I haven't played a whole lot since I retired because my body and mind needed a break,' the 43-year-old had said.

Wimbledon 2025: Older players shine but youth eventually triumphs
Wimbledon 2025: Older players shine but youth eventually triumphs

Mint

timean hour ago

  • Mint

Wimbledon 2025: Older players shine but youth eventually triumphs

Tennis, it has sometimes been said, has skipped a generation. The reference is usually to men's tennis, which has transitioned somehow seamlessly from the improbable longevity of the fabled Big Three—Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal (who retired in their late thirties) and Novak Djokovic (who is still playing)—to the precocity and power of Jannik Sinner and Carlos Alcaraz. Wimbledon this year seemed a docudrama that showcased this theory in not only the men's game, but also the women's. Older players, some well into their thirties, shone but eventually youth triumphed. The most memorable women's match till the last weekend was the quarterfinal between the 37-year-old German, Laura Siegemund, a doubles specialist, and the top seed Aryna Sabalenka. Siegemund mixed up her game, alternating sliced forehands with forays to the net, drop shots with the occasional lob. This is the bread and butter of tennis in doubles but her powerful opponent seemed so befuddled for much of the match that it seemed like Siegemund was conducting a multiple-choice exam. For much of the match, Belarussian Sabalenka, who serves huge serves and backs them up with the heaviest groundstrokes in women's tennis, looked like she was in danger of flunking. She eventually resorted to using sliced forehands as well as her heavy groundstrokes and rebounding from losing her serve early in the final set to overcome an opponent a decade older than her, 4-6, 6-2, 6-4. Daniil Medvedev, Alexander Zverev and Stefanos Tsitsipas, meanwhile, who were once thought of as successors to the Big Three, carried on their equivalent of an early midlife crisis. The three—aged 29, 28 and 26 respectively—crashed out in the first round. Motherhood has been another theme of the British grasscourt summer. Another 37-year-old German, Tatjana Maria, an unheralded mother of two, won the prestigious warm-up before Wimbledon at Queen's Club. At Wimbledon, it was the turn of the Swiss veteran Belinda Bencic, just back from maternity leave, to upset the seventh seed Mirra Andreeva, who many had tipped to win the tournament as the second week began. Instead, Bencic blunted Andreeva's superior power game with slices and slow balls in an otherwise uninspiring quarterfinal. From the sidelines, Andreeva's coach, Conchita Martinez called on Andreeva to 'Be brave." The exhortation was intended to get her charge to go for winners and not be drawn into the spider's web Bencic was weaving around her. Andreeva heeded the call but ended up committing more errors as she tried to impose her faster pace on the game. She lost in two tiebreak sets, 6-7, 6-7, after not having dropped a set to get through the first four rounds. Equally mystifying but more predictable was the continued downward trajectory of the career of Tsitsipas. The Greek was once considered a probable successor to the Big 3 after beating Federer at the Australian Open and being a finalist at both the French Open and the Australian Open. This Wimbledon will mark a low point. He withdrew after losing the first two sets of his first round match. But, worse was to come. Tsitsipas' new coach, Goran Ivanisevic, 2001 Wimbledon champion and a long-time coach of Djokovic, criticised Tsitsipas after his loss at Wimbledon as the most 'unprepared player" he had ever seen and declared he was three times fitter than Tsitsipas, despite being decades older. Also in danger of being labelled a serial underperformer is Zverev, who lost in the first round on Centre Court to Frenchman Arthur Rinderknech, who was braver on the big points. Unlike Tsitsipas and Zverev, Medvedev has a single Grand Slam to his name—the US Open in 2021 where he beat Djokovic. But he went out in the first round of the French Open this year and at Wimbledon, and looks set to fall out of the top 10 next week after the points from Wimbledon are added to the men's rankings. The surprising outperformers in the men's tournament were well into their thirties. The first match on Centre Court on the opening Monday is, for the most part, a ceremonial ritual: the defending champion takes the court to loud cheers and usually wins in straight sets. This year, 38-year-old Favio Fognini pushed Alcaraz to five sets and then brought forward his retirement from tennis, originally expected later this year. After that see-sawing match and the standing ovation he received at the end on Centre Court, Fognini decided that this was the best way to say goodbye to tennis. The moment was so full of pathos that it seemed scripted by the gods. The tabloid press had anointed Jack Draper, the British number 4 seed, one of the prime contenders for a title. His form at Indian Wells, part of the so-called spring slam in the first half of the year, and since has justified his ranking. At Wimbledon, however, he ran into the giant Croatian, Marin Cilic, whose big serves followed up by whipping forehand winners can be an intimidating combination. Despite the wide gap in their rankings and the fact that Cilic at 36 is 13 years older than Draper, the outcome of the four-set second round match never seemed in doubt. The Croatian, a former Wimbledon finalist, looked more at home at Wimbledon than the Englishman. At this almost excessively sunny and warm Wimbledon, the ghosts who authored Greek tragedies seemed among the audience on Monday evening as Sinner went on court against Grigor Dimitrov. When he first burst onto the tennis scene, the 34-year-old Bulgarian's nickname was the baby Fed, a nod to his similarly elegant play and stylish single handed backhand. The match up between Sinner and Dimitrov seemed to pit cannons on one side of the battlefield against an archer on the other. Yet Dimitrov's arrows seemed to find the target again and again and appeared to have the magical qualities needed to defuse Sinner's explosive power. His backhand slice moved the number one seed around the court and skidded low on the grass. Dimitrov unleashed cannons of his own, serving 10 to 15 mph above his normal speed. With throaty crowd support, the Bulgarian was soon two sets to love up. At 2-2 in the third set, however, disaster struck. After unleashing yet another huge serve, Dimitrov sank to the ground writhing in pain from a pectoral muscle pull. Sinner was quickly by his side and helped him to his chair. After a timeout for treatment, Dimitrov returned to the court in tears to retire. One of Wimbledon's perennially popular stars may never again get that close to the semifinals. Injury played a part in Sinner's semifinal with Djokovic. The Serbian looked slow from the start, having suffered a bad fall in his four-set quarterfinal. He lost in straight sets. But for his serve, the match would have been a rout. It may be the last time we see Djokovic in a Wimbledon semifinal. 'I guess playing best of five, particularly this year, has been a real struggle for me physically. I reach the semis of every Slam this year, but I have to play Sinner or Alcaraz. These guys are fit, young, sharp," a reflective Djokovic said afterward. 'I feel like I'm going into the match with the tank half-empty." In other words, wily cunning and experience may have its moments, but at Grand Slams in 2025 youth has its way in the end. Of the four finalists in the men's and women's singles, Iga Swiatek, chasing her first Wimbledon final is 24. And, Alcaraz, the youngest at 22, remains the picture of calm confidence as he eyes his third consecutive Wimbledon. The younger generation is firmly in charge. Rahul Jacob is a Mint columnist.

Novak Djokovic finally admits age is catching up as he makes honest retirement admission: 'Reality hits me right now'
Novak Djokovic finally admits age is catching up as he makes honest retirement admission: 'Reality hits me right now'

First Post

timean hour ago

  • First Post

Novak Djokovic finally admits age is catching up as he makes honest retirement admission: 'Reality hits me right now'

Will he retire from tennis? Novak Djokovic finally opened up on the topic after his defeat to Jannik Sinner in Wimbledon semi-finals as he admitted that his body is not able to keep up with the demands of the sport. read more Skills and fitness had been Novak Djokovic's biggest strengths in his glittering career, which has seen him win 24 Grand Slam titles, but his growing age, it seems, has now become a burden. Djokovic knows that and finally admitted it for the first time after being soundly beaten by Jannik Sinner in the Wimbledon 2025 semi-finals on Friday. The 38-year-old Djokovic was thrashed 6-3, 6-3, 6-4 by a 15-year-younger Sinner as the senior tennis player also required medical attention for a leg issue STORY CONTINUES BELOW THIS AD The end result, however, was not surprising as Djokovic has been witnessing a steady decline. His last Grand Slam win came in 2023 and the only major victory in the last 18 months is the Paris Olympics gold medal. Djokovic: 'I'm going into match with tank half empty' After exiting Wimbledon 2025, Djokovic admitted that the age and the wear and tear of his body have restricted his tennis playing abilities. 'It's just age, the wear and tear of the body. As much as I'm taking care of it, the reality hits me right now, last year and a half, like never before, to be honest,' Djokovic said. 'These guys are fit, young, sharp. I feel like I'm going into the match with a tank half empty. It's just not possible to win a match like that. It's one of these things I accept and embrace in some way, deal with the reality the way it is, and try to make the most out of it.' Djokovic speaks on tennis retirement Djokovic, however, clarified that he is not ready to hang up his boots and may return to the All England Club in 2026. 'Hopefully it's not my last match on the Centre Court. I'm not planning to finish my Wimbledon career today,' Djokovic said. 'So I'm planning to come back definitely at least one more time, play on the Centre Court for sure. 'Right now I'm so fresh off the court, it's hard to put things in a larger perspective and say what the plan is for the next few months or a year. I still feel like I continue to play my best tennis at Grand Slams. Those are the tournaments that I care about at this stage of my career the most.' STORY CONTINUES BELOW THIS AD To his credit, Djokovic has reached the semi-finals of every Grand Slam event this year. He also shared his take on the upcoming final between Carlos Alcaraz and Sinner. 'I think the anticipation for this final is big. They're definitely several levels above everyone right now,' Djokovic added.

DOWNLOAD THE APP

Get Started Now: Download the App

Ready to dive into a world of global content with local flavor? Download Daily8 app today from your preferred app store and start exploring.
app-storeplay-store