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As it did last year, Wimbledon clashes with the Lord’s Test – unhelpful for people working on the former with tickets for the latter. Pray for them. Both venues encapsulate some of the worst of this country – fussiness, coldness, formality – and some of the best – tastefulness, attention to detail, beauty. There are few venues, if any – in any sport – which envelop you in their history so absolutely, that feel an honour to attend, that so enrapture those lucky enough to play at them. I love both despite myself.
Two years ago, Swiatek men Bencic in the round of 16, winning in three, but both are better now than then; my sense, though, is that it’s the former who’s taken the bigger strides. On grass, she’s a very different player to the one she was then and as a consequence, her on-court persona is very different too.
Most likely, Anisimova will look to hit at Sabalenka’s backhand, while Sabelenka looks for her forehand. But sometimes, players seek to turn an opponent’s strength against them, and if either one finds their money shot malfunctioning – and these big weapons have little margin for error – I’d not be surprised to see it targeted.
On BBC, they’re saying Sabalenka needs this more than the other three semi-finalists, which I understand: she was so disappointed to lose the French Open final to Coco Gauff, and as world no 1, winning things is what she’s meant to do. But Anisimova and Bencic will see this as the chance of their lives and have not a clue when they’ll be this close to glory again, whereas Sabalenka will be there or thereabouts next year and for many more to come.
It’s really hot in London today, but these are some supremely fit athletes, so I doubt the temperature has much effect on the outcome.
So who’s going to win today? It’s hard to look beyond Sabalenka and Swiatek; I’d actually be more inclined to back a shock if the matches were reversed, because the match-ups as they are seem to favour the favourites. Anisimova, I fear, does what Sabalenka does, just less well, while Swiatek might need hitting off the court, something Anisimova is better capable of than Bencic. But both are live dogs.
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Preamble
Wotcha one and all and welcome to Wimbledon 2025 – day 11!
We’re at that point, aren’t we? On the one hand, we’re buzzing for what promises to be another belter of a go-around; on the other, we’re fearful that all of this is nearly over. So it goes.
Aryna Sabalenka is, to use the sportsperson’s parlance, not just a freak of nature but an absolute freak of nature. Her easy power is like nothing we’ve seen before, the joy she takes in unleashing it equal parts terrifying and affirming.
But neither she nor it are infallible. Sabalenka has reached the last three grand slam finals but lost the last two, while at Wimbledon she’s found ways to lose both semi-finals she’s made, from a set up. Amid all the pyrotechnics and giggles, there’s a fragility inherent within her style and character that is both humanising and undermining. She is fascinating, but she is beatable.
And in Amanda Anisimova, she finds one of few opponents with the same one-shot kill capacity, surging after a restorative mental-health break. Though it is hard to forget her flummoxed surrender in the final at Queen’s, we might put that down to Tatjana Maria’s unique style and, while Sabalenka represents a colossal step-up in class relative to her previous opponents, this will be her kind of match – and she’s ready for it.
Following them on Centre we’ve Belinda Bencic and Iga Swiatek – both on the road back, for very different reasons. Bencic began the year ranked 497 in the world after giving birth to her daughter Bella in April 2024, and has gradually worked her way to a peak. When it hits, her risky, aggressive game is nasty proposition for anyone, all the more so now it’s fired by the perspective of having a child and the thrill of unexpectedly reaching the last four. She is under no pressure whatsoever.
The same is not so of Iga Swiatek who, even in the moment of victory yesterday, noted the weight of expectation coming from home – all the more so given the poor year she’s endured. She lost to Jessica Pegula in New York and Madison Keys in Melbourne, had her French Open title ripped from her by Sabalenka, and has not won a tournament of any description since Roland Garros.
However there’ve been signs these last few weeks that her form is returning and her game – on the face of it a decent fit for a grass court – is finally at one with the surface. Her confidence is back and her swagger looks not far behind; two more wins and we might look at this fortnight as the start of an epoch.
Play: 1.30pm BST
