Wimbledon recap: Dark arts on Centre Court before Amanda Anisimova reintroduces herself

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Welcome to the Wimbledon briefing, where The Athletic will explain the stories behind the stories on each day of the tournament.
On day nine, the tennis dark arts hit Centre Court, a champion hit their stride, and a top prospect reintroduced themselves.
How can the world No. 1 beating a player ranked outside of the world's top 100 feel so seismic?
When the world No. 1 is Aryna Sabalenka and her opponent is the mind-bending Laura Siegemund.
Siegemund, 37, is a master of the dark arts of tennis. This Wimbledon, she has turned her slicing, off-speed brand of the game into a devastating grass-court weapon, knocking out Australian Open champion Madison Keys en route to facing Sabalenka.
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Today, she took the 27-year-old Sabalenka to the brink, several times over. Siegemund led by a set, then twice by a break in the third set. She reveled in denying Sabalenka the chance to be the protagonist — a situation in which the world No. 1 tends to unravel. Sabalenka shouted in frustration even after winning points, so irked at having to play them on somebody else's terms.
But for the final few games, it always felt as if Siegemund would have to break to win the match, rather than hold.
She pushed two forehand slices long as Sabalenka restored parity, despite the German having a point to lead 5-3. The Belarusian then raced through her next service game to put the pressure firmly on Siegemund for the first time.
Sabalenka skipped forward to slam away a volley at the net on her second match point for a 4-6, 6-2, 6-4 win. It sets up a semifinal against the American No. 13 seed Amanda Anisimova on Thursday. Speaking of…
Charlie Eccleshare
After reaching her first Grand Slam quarterfinal in three years on Sunday night, Amanda Anisimova took about an hour to credit the person who has done almost as much as she has to get there: Shadi Soleymani, her physio (or physical therapist, as Anisimova's compatriots would say).
In three months, Soleymani — who was born and raised in Sweden before studying in Canada and the United States, where she played college tennis — has become just about everything to Anisimova.
Today, her charge reached the Wimbledon semifinals as she beat Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova of Russia 6-1, 7-6(9).
Anisimova's talent has never been in doubt. Five years ago, she seemed like a surefire bet to become one of the next great Americans.
But then her father and coach, Konstantin, died of a heart attack aged 52 when she was 17. She missed half the 2023 season with burnout and has managed recurring injuries since her return at the start of 2024.
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Enter Soleymani, who has helped Anisimova not cover up scar tissue with fitness work, but actually fix the scar tissue so she can train longer and harder. Anisimova, 23, was so talented early on that she did not have to work as hard as other players. But as she returns to the top of the sport, she has to be able to do that work.
'Maybe a few years ago, I wasn't doing it quite to that extent. Everything was also pretty new to me,' Anisimova said.
About as new as a Wimbledon semifinal. Anisimova beat Pavlyuchenkova to set up her last-four match, where the world No. 1 Sabalenka awaits.
Matt Futterman
Just as last year, Carlos Alcaraz has turned first-week Wimbledon ropiness into second-week ferocity.
For a second consecutive match, Alcaraz found a tennis level that pretty much no one else in the world could reach. He took apart Cameron Norrie, Britain's last man standing, 6-2, 6-3, 6-3 on Centre Court in 100 minutes.
It's hard to believe that this is the same player who slogged through four hours and 37 minutes of discombobulation against Fabio Fognini in the first round. But this is what Alcaraz does, and now the pattern has become pretty clear — get him early or it's unlikely you will get him at all.
Frances Tiafoe nearly beat him in the third round here last year, just two points from serving out the match. Alcaraz survived and then found his form in the quarterfinals against Tommy Paul.
By his own assessment, he went a little earlier this year, reaching the level he seeks during his fourth-round win over an inspired Andrey Rublev.
Alcaraz won that match in four sets that should have been three. Since the first of them, it has been all business.
'This year for me is kind of different,' he said, noting that everything feels a bit slower. 'But today I just played my best match so far in the tournament. Just feeling great.'
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Most ominously, Alcaraz's serve, which propelled him to the Queen's title, has reappeared with a vengeance after deserting him in the opening rounds.
Who is next? Fritz, who believes grass is an 'equalizer' for gaps in ability. Late-in-a-Grand-Slam Alcaraz, a master of the grass, might have something to say about that.
Matt Futterman
Sometimes, all a tennis player can do is laugh. After an epic rally in their invitational doubles matchup, incredible reactions here from Mike Bryan, Bob Bryan, Tommy Haas and Feliciano Lopez when Lopez duffed what he thought would be a winner.
🎾 Iga Świątek (8) vs. Liudmila Samsonova (19)
8 a.m. ET on ESPN/ESPN+
Two players who have quietly moved through the draw meet. Świątek, who is retooling her game by going back in time, is the favorite, but the Russian Samsonova has been imperious on the grass thus far and has the ability to rush Świątek.
🎾 Mirra Andreeva (7) vs. Belinda Bencic
8:30 a.m. ET on ESPN/ESPN+
Andreeva's jazz improvisation of spins and speeds meets Bencic's unrelenting consistency, especially off her fearsome two-handed backhand. Neither player has ever reached a Wimbledon semifinal, as in Świątek's meeting with Samsonova.
🎾 Jannik Sinner (1) vs. Ben Shelton (10)
Follows Świątek vs. Samsonova on ESPN/ESPN+
Whether or not this quarterfinal will be played is the first order of business. Sinner was two sets down to Grigor Dimitrov when a cruel injury saw the Bulgarian retire hurt, but Sinner himself injured his elbow and did not practice today. The American Shelton will have studied how Dimitrov troubled the world No. 1 with thunderous serves and forward pressure.
🎾 Flavio Cobolli (22) vs. Novak Djokovic (6)
Follows Andreeva vs, Bencic on ESPN/ESPN+
On paper the most one-sided quarterfinal of the four: Djokovic is a seven-time champion at Wimbledon, while Cobolli, 23, has never been to this stage of a major before. But just as Dimitrov provided a template for Shelton, Alex de Minaur provided one for Cobolli: draw Djokovic into long rallies and hope for some wind. Cobolli can at least control the first part.
Tell us what you noticed on the ninth day…
(Top photo of Centre Court: Getty Images; design: Eamonn Dalton / The Athletic)