Aryna Sabalenka survives Siegemund scare to set up semi-final against Anisimova

The Guardian

a day ago

There was a rare sight on Centre Court as a frustrated Aryna Sabalenka battled her nerves as much as her opponent in her 11th consecutive grand slam quarter-final. The world No 1 had reached the last eight without dropping a set but needed a decider to beat Laura Siegemund 4-6, 6-2, 6-4 and book her spot in the semi-finals where she will face the No 13 seed, Amanda Anisimova.
'After the first set, I was looking at my box like: 'Guys, book the tickets. We're about to leave,'' Sabalenka said. 'I was struggling because she was playing a really smart game. I made a lot of unforced errors – unnecessary ones.'
Sabalenka struggled from her first service game with an early double fault. Siegemund troubled the Belarusian with an unreachable backhand drop shot and, despite slipping, a forehand winner to earn her second break point before a cross-court backhand return secured the game.
The German held serve then broke her more illustrious opponent again. A 113mph service winner earned Sabalenka a sole point in a service game riddled with errors as the 37‑year-old Siegemund's nimble movement and court coverage helped her to go 3-0 up. The No 1 seed soon got back on track and on the board, breaking to love, before securing a hold with a backhand volley winner. Siegemund's killer drop shot helped her to win two games in a row to lead 5-2. Serving to win the set, she began with a double fault before hitting a forehand long. Sabalenka was handed the game by her opponent's sudden breakdown after another double fault. The 27‑year‑old made the most of the lucky break and held serve.
At 4-5, however, the pressure built. Sabalenka screamed in frustration and slapped her thighs after hitting an early return into the net, and the crowd were in full voice after her opponent's masterful net play. A wild shot into the stands and a blasted forehand into the net handed Siegemund the set.
Sabalenka opened the second with her third double fault of the match but managed to hold after two long returns from her opponent before the players traded breaks of serve.
The world No 1's spirits were down, hitting a ball high up in the air in frustration and the German capitalised by holding.
However, her nerves seemed to get the better of her, going 40-0 up on her serve before handing Sabalenka the break after a string of errors. Neither player could get her forehand under control as Sabalenka held and then broke to take a scrappy set.
She stormed out in the decider holding to love with a few speeding serves before Siegemund made it 1‑1 after a forehand slice clipped the net. The German then broke Sabalenka's serve after a great rally with a forehand winner that had the crowd on their feet for the first time in the match and a hold followed.
Sabalenka angrily whacked the net with her racket during her service game after a long forehand, but held to 15 after poor shot selection on the other side of the net. Sabalenka broke twice to keep it level at 4-4 after two sliced forehands by the German were just long. A couple of aces handed the Belarusian the lead in the set before seeing out the ugly win.
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'It felt like she was trying to do the same game style that Coco [Gauff] did against me at Roland Garros,' Sabalenka said. 'I'm really proud that I handled myself well and didn't repeat the same mistake I did at the French Open.'
Anisimova had little trouble in her quarter-final, beating Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova 6-1, 7-6 (9). The world No 12 missed the 2023 tournament during a hiatus from tour and lost in the final round of qualifying last year. 'It's a super-special turnaround for me considering where I was a year ago,' Anisimova said. 'I've done a lot of work since then and everything has been clicking for me.'
The American dominated in the first set but Pavlyuchenkova rallied in the second, converting her third break point while down 5-3 and saving two match points to level. The Russian forced a tie-break after a strong service game but Anisimova – after saving four set points – hit an unreturnable serve to seal the victory.
'Every match we've played has been tough,' Anisimova said of her semi-final against Sabalenka. 'We've gone to three sets in a lot of them. We're both big hitters and big hitters like to go at it against each other.'