London, July 10 (QNA) - American Amanda Anisimova booked her place in the Wimbledon final, the third Grand Slam of the tennis season, after pulling off a stunning upset against world No. 1 Aryna Sabalenka in the semifinals on Wednesday. The victory marks Anisimova's first-ever appearance in a Grand Slam final.

World number 12, Anisimova defeated Sabalenka in a tightly contested three-set match, 6-4, 4-6, 6-4, to secure her spot in the final. She will now face Poland's Iga Swiatek, the world No. 4, who advanced after a dominant straight-sets win over Switzerland's Belinda Bencic, 6-2, 6-0.

Anisimova, 23, had previously reached the semifinals of the French Open in 2019, her best Grand Slam performance until now. Her hard-fought win over Sabalenka, which lasted 2 hours and 37 minutes, denied the top seed a place in the Wimbledon final and marked a major breakthrough in Anisimova's career.

With this defeat, Sabalenka's Wimbledon journey once again ended at the semifinal stage, having also exited at the same round in 2021 and 2023, losing to Karolina Pliskova and Ons Jabeur, respectively.

In the other semifinal, Swiatek cruised past Bencic in just 1 hour and 12 minutes. It was her first meeting with the Swiss world No. 35 since the fourth round at Wimbledon 2023, and her third win in four head-to-head matches.

The upcoming final will be Swiatek's first Grand Slam final since capturing her third consecutive French Open title, and fourth overall, in 2023. She also won the US Open in 2022.

Swiatek's progression to the Wimbledon final comes on the heels of her run to her first-ever grass-court final at the Bad Homburg Open (WTA 500) earlier this season, where she finished runner-up to American Jessica Pegula. (QNA)