Aryna Sabalenka’s quest for a Grand Slam title away from hard courts will be put on hold until next season.
The WTA’s world number one has been the most consistent player at the majors this season, having failed to reach the final just once.
But she lost those two finals at the Australian Open and Roland Garros to Madison Keys and Coco Gauff, and just came up short at Wimbledon against Amanda Anisimova in Thursday’s semi-final.
Sabalenka suffered a three-set defeat to Anisimova, who is into her first championship match at a Grand Slam, where she will play Iga Swiatek.
Photo by Julian Finney/Getty ImagesNick Kyrgios thinks Aryna Sabalenka should be proud of her performances at Wimbledon despite losing
There was no definitive favourite for the women’s title at Wimbledon this year, especially with no member of the top 10 having previously won the title.
But as many of the top seeds fell early in the tournament, Sabalenka became an overwhelming favourite to lift the Venus Rosewater dish for the first time.
However, Sabalenka produced an exciting run to the last four after escaping defeat against Emma Raducanu and Laura Siegemund.
But she was unable to find a way past Anisimova, who sealed a 6-4, 4-6, 6-4 victory and defeated Sabalenka for the sixth time in her career.
Despite the crushing defeat, Nick Kyrgios thinks Sabalenka should be proud of how she battled to the semi-finals at SW19.
“The last couple of rounds she has not been playing great. She was, I wouldn’t say lucky to get through Siegemund, the 37 year old veteran, but in saying that I don’t think Sabalenka was near her best tennis this week at all,” the Australian told talkSPORT.
“Sabalenka will be feeling pretty average about her performance but another Wimbledon semifinal to add to the resume is not too bad.
“I think ultimately she should be super proud of herself, but this one is going to hurt her a bit, because she probably won’t have a better chance to win Wimbledon.”
Photo by Rob Newell – CameraSport via Getty ImagesNick Kyrgios reacts to Amanda Anisimova reaching the Wimbledon final
Anisimova has enjoyed a stellar grass court which she will end with an appearance in the Wimbledon final. This is the American’s first Grand Slam final and it has come at the All-England Club, the most prestigious of them all.
She backed up her run to the Queen’s final and the quarter-finals in Berlin. Now she will face Swiatek in Saturday’s Wimbledon final.
Irrespective of whether she becomes champion, this is a remarkable achievement for Anisimova, who failed to qualify for Wimbledon just a year ago.
Impressed with her run, Kyrgios said: “Anisimova was someone who pretty much since she came on the scene she was expected to win Grand Slams.
“She is only 23 years old. She already took some time away from the sport dealing with her mental health, so it is good to see her finally back on track.
“She was ranked almost 400 a year ago and now back in the top 10 and Grand Slam finals. She always had the ability and to see she has taken that and made a Grand Slam final is good.”