WIMBLEDON — World No. 1 Aryna Sabalenka survived a scare from Laura Siegemund in the Wimbledon quarterfinals, coming from a break down twice in the third set in a Centre Court thriller to win 4-6, 6-2, 6-4 in 2 hours and 54 minutes — the third-longest match of this year’s Championships. Sabalenka advances to her 12th career Grand Slam semifinal, and third at Wimbledon.
Sabalenka also becomes the first player to officially qualify for the 2025 WTA Finals Riyadh with the win.
Wimbledon: Scores | Order of play | Draws
Sabalenka has made at least the last four in 10 of her last 11 major appearances dating back to the 2022 US Open. The only exception in this timeframe was her quarterfinal finish at Roland Garros 2024, where she fell to Mirra Andreeva. She also advances to a tour-leading ninth semifinal of 2025, ahead of Iga Swiatek’s six in second place.
A runner-up at the Australian Open and Roland Garros already this season, Sabalenka will bid to make her third Grand Slam final of the year against No. 13 seed Amanda Anisimova, who defeated Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova in the late quarterfinal. The last player to reach the first three major finals of a single season was Serena Williams in 2016.
Sabalenka will have to overcome a head-to-head deficit to reach another final. Anisimova leads their rivalry 5-3 — although Sabalenka won their only meeting this year, in the Roland Garros Round of 16.
Sabalenka pays tribute to Siegemund effort: In Sabalenka’s on-court interview, the three-time major champion admitted that she had thought her tournament was coming to an end.
“She pushed me so much,” Sabalenka said. “Honestly, after the first set I was looking at my box and thinking, ‘Guys, book the tickets, I think we’re about to leave this beautiful city.’ She played an incredible tournament and match.”
Siegemund had described her own game as “annoying” ahead of the match, but Sabalenka demurred.
“It’s not an annoying game,” she said. “It’s a smart game. She’s really making everyone work against her … It doesn’t matter if you’re a big server, a big hitter, you have to work. You have to run, you have to earn the win. I didn’t want her to see that I was annoyed or anything by her — even if I was a little bit at some points — but I was trying not to give her that energy.”
Siegemund delights with throwback style … but Sabalenka has final word: Sabalenka may have tried not to show her frustration, but it was visible nonetheless at times. After netting a forehand in response to yet another slice, she banged her racquet against her head. After netting a backhand, she screamed to the heavens. After being outfoxed by consecutive sub-70 mph serves, loaded with spin and angle, she simply stood with her hands on her hips and stared at her box.
Siegemund’s strategy was evident from the outset: to keep Sabalenka off-balance and to mix up her shots as much as possible. She chipped her returns short, she chipped them deep, and then on her first two break points she slammed clean driven winners for a 3-0 lead. The 37-year-old German was bidding to become the oldest first-time Grand Slam semifinalist in the Open Era — that remains her compatriot Tatjana Maria, who made the last four of Wimbledon 2022 at 34 years old — as well as the oldest player to defeat a World No. 1, and at times it seemed as though she was using tactics from every age of tennis.
A chip-and-charge tactic brought an element of the ’90s revival — was it the ghost of Jana Novotna on Centre Court? — and a 5-2 lead. Drop shots trickled over the net, beyond a flailing Sabalenka’s reach.
But the World No. 1’s run through Wimbledon has been characterized by her ability to focus when it really matters. Ever since her 6-1 opener against Carson Branstine, Sabalenka hasn’t enjoyed a straightforward set. Battle-hardened, she responded to Siegemund’s sorcery with pure grit. From 2-2 in the second set, she ran off four straight games to level the match — but each of those games went to at least one deuce, and each was hard-won.
From 3-1 down in the third set, Sabalenka won five of the next six games — but again, it was the three-deuce tussle with which she broke Siegemund back for 4-4 that proved crucial. Throughout the last two sets, she demonstrated her willingness not just to overpower Siegemund, but to stick with her in terms of variety. In the last game of the second set, she covered every inch of the court to retrieve a drop shot, then a lob, before slamming home a forehand winner.
By contrast, despite her cool tactical play early on, Siegemund faltered in the home stretch. Up 3-2 in the third set, two double faults paved the way for a break back. Up 4-3 with another break in hand, she ended that marathon game with two forehand slice errors.
