Mumbai: Sandwiched between one high quality and one highly dramatic women’s singles semi-final was Venus Williams turning up at Arthur Ashe Stadium for Williams foundation program. Somewhat fittingly, both finalists entered into Williams’ territory at Williams’ den.
One became the first world No.1 to make three Grand Slam finals in the same year since Serena Williams in 2016. The other became the youngest woman to reach the Wimbledon and US Open finals in the same season since Serena and Venus in 2002.
Neither, though, has a Slam next to her name this year.
That’s your 2025 US Open women finalists: Aryna Sabalenka and Amanda Anisimova.
Apart from their Williams-matching deeds and one-step-to-glory defeats, they have something else in common. Both rallied from a set down to flip their Thursday night semi-final spectacle and fillip to a Saturday night showdown.
Sabalenka, the world No.1 and defending champion, withstood solid tennis from world No.4 Jessica Pegula in a 4-6, 6-3, 6-4 tussle that was a repeat of last year’s final and top notch in quality.
Anisimova, the world No.9 and Wimbledon finalist, shrugged off a shaky start to find her big-hitting range just in time in a 6-7(4), 7-6(3), 6-3 encounter that at times lacked fluidity but not the drama.
Three-time Slam champion Sabalenka is into her third major final this season in a creditable show of consistency that however awaits its champagne. This will also be her sixth straight hard-court major final, a remarkable stat of surface dominance from the two-time champion of Melbourne out for a similar tag in New York.
Anisimova is into her second straight Slam final, rolling on from the grass of All England Club to the blue of Flushing Meadows as if on autopilot. Except, the ride met a 6-0, 6-0 snag, for a Wimbledon final defeat no less. No problem, as the 24-year-old American turned up at the next Slam to beat the same opponent in the quarter-finals and seize another shot at her maiden major crown.
“It shows that I’ve worked really hard, especially on my mental game,” Anisimova said. “Like today (against Osaka), I could’ve easily said, ‘Oh, she’s playing better than me and I can’t really do anything’. (But) I tried to find a way to stay in the match. I really worked on myself to be able to handle those moments.”
Handling those moments could well be the pivotal factor in the battle between these two baseline bullies. Both women, although of varied big-match experience and Slam calibre, have been prone to the nerves that come with high-stakes contests.
Anisimova, an otherwise free-flowing powerhitter, was a picture of frozen contrast in the London final with Iga Swiatek. Even against Osaka in New York, she started tight because she “let the stress get to me a little bit”, as Anisimova said after the match. It helped that Osaka herself froze while serving for the match at 6-5 in the second set, and that by then Anisimova was increasingly breaking her shackles.
“Most of the time I thought that it’s going to slip away from me,” she said.
Anisimova needed three match points to get the job done. So did Sabalenka; although in a far richer quality deciding set in which Pegula dropped just four points on serve and Sabalenka fired 17 winners.
Yet, when Sabalenka slammed a straightforward overhead into the net on her first match point, familiar thoughts swung by.
“I was like, ‘oh my gosh, no way is this happening. Please just close this match’,” Sabalenka said after her semi-final.
Closing out matches is where the world No.1 has stumbled in Slams this season, despite doing well to go deep in all of them.
Her final defeats at the Australian Open and French Open – both against Americans – were close three-setters. The 27-year-old’s most recent Slam defeat at the Wimbledon semi-final was also a three-setter, and at the hands of another American whom she again faces on Saturday.
Anisimova, whose backhand down the lines have been penetrative and second serve returns punishing (watch out, Sabalenaka’s susceptible second serve) this tournament, flaunts a positive head-to-head against the world No.1. Sabalenka says she loves “revenges”.
“I badly wanted to give myself another opportunity, another final, and prove to myself that I’ve learnt from those tough lessons and I can do better in the finals,” Sabalenka said.
Doing better in finals is something Anisimova too is after.
“At Wimbledon, I was shocked with every match that I won. Here it feels more like I believe in myself,” she said. “That’s been the shift at the US Open.”
Sabalenka also seeks a shift at the US Open – to cross a major final obstacle for the first time this year and land a second trophy in New York.
“It’s going to feel amazing,” she said.
