Amanda Anisimova earns another shot at first major title after Wimbledon nightmare

Amanda Anisimova will have the chance to fully banish the nightmare of Wimbledon after beating Naomi Osaka to reach a second successive grand-slam final.

As the clock ticked close to 1am, Anisimova sealed the 6-7, 7-6, 6-3. victory to set up a first US Open final against Aryna Sabalenka.

The second semi-final of the evening could hardly have been a more even match. Each player broke serve multiple times a set and hit astonishing winners.

Anisimova was competitive throughout, even as Osaka was dictating points in the first two sets.

But it was not until the crowd had already started heading for the exits of the vast Arthur Ashe Stadium that Anisimova took control of the contest.

She had already partly overcome her Wimbledon double bagel nightmare, by beating Iga Swiatek in straight sets on Wednesday, in an almost flawless performance.

But with a win over Osaka, she ensured another opportunity to win a first grand slam.

She never gave up.

See you on Saturday, Amanda! pic.twitter.com/bTSnsfMVoz

— US Open Tennis (@usopen) September 5, 2025

It was not a clean performance. Against Swiatek, Anisimova conceded 15 unforced errors, but against Osaka she had already made 23 in the opening set, and finished with an unenviable count of 45 – despite hitting 49 winners.

In the tie-break that decided the opener, there was a bizarre moment where the automated line call technology appeared to fail, evoking memories of the fourth-round match at Wimbledon, when the chair umpire had to briefly halt play.

With Osaka leading 6-3, Anisimova hit a powerful shot, and there did not seem to be an immediate call. Osaka went up to the umpire to query whether the ball was called in or out and the umpire had to make a phone call to check.

After a delay before the replay was called for, showing the shot to be out. The chair umpire then overruled the replay, deeming the shot to be in, as Anisimova was awarded the point.

Anisimova lost the opening set, but fought back, eventually taking the win with her third match point of the evening.

Amanda Anisimova is closing in on a spot in the final! pic.twitter.com/d9NZ819P5U

— US Open Tennis (@usopen) September 5, 2025

In the other semi-final, with a yell to end all yells, Sabalenka ensured she would have the opportunity to defend her US Open title, comimg from behind to beat home favourite Jessica Pegula.

Hear her ROAR! 🐯 pic.twitter.com/NaDMUcpy9d

— US Open Tennis (@usopen) September 5, 2025

It was a game of cat and mouse by the end, Pegula was holding with ease and piling on the pressure in a desperation to break back and force the deciding set into a tie-break.

In the end, there was nothing more Pegula could have done. She had already saved two match points, but could not do it for a third time as Sabalenka claimed the 4-6, 6-3, 6-4 win in a match that lasted more than two hours.

“I was super emotional,” Sabalenka said. “Of course I was emotional, and then there was another easy shot that I – not that I missed, but I didn’t make the right decision.

“The whole match I just kept telling myself, into the next one, just one step at a time, don’t worry about the past.”

At the crucial moments in the match, it was Sabalenka who came out on top. But if there is any doubt about how close it was, Pegula finished with 88 points won to Sabalenka’s 90.

In a reaction to the contest, Sabalenka released roars so loud they could be heard reverberating around the concrete corridors underneath the Arthur Ashe Stadium.

There are few atmospheres as electric in tennis than with the roof shut and under the lights at Arthur Ashe, with 24,000 fans who disappear up into the rafters. It goes so high that from the seats at the very top the risk of vertigo is all too real.

Inside that cauldron of noise it can be easy to be caught up in the occasion, but despite her enthusiasm and volume, Sabalanka insisted her emotions were not close to crossing the line at any point.

“What happened in Paris, definitely not gonna happen here and never, you know. I learnt that lesson, and I will never behave that way. It’s not me.

“I was super emotional. I let it go and let emotions take control over me, and it’s not who I am. It’s never gonna happen again.”

The decider in particular was not without error from Sabalenka. She punctuated an impressive 17 winners and three aces, with 11 unforced errors to her opponent’s three.

In the end, she had just enough to get over the line, despite hitting the ball onto the net on her two previous match points before securing her place in the final.

Salisbury and Skupski have shot at doubles history

Joe Salisbury and Nick Skupski have the opportunity to become the first all-British men’s doubles pair to win the US Open trophy for more than a century.

The all-British pair beat Yuki Bhambri and Michael Venus after losing the opening set, 6-7, 7-6, 6-4. 

It will not be the first final for either player, in fact they even played against each other in 2022.

On that occasion, Salisbury was partnered with United States’ Rajeev Ram, and beat Skupski and Wesley Koolhof in straight sets.

It was the middle year of three successive men’s doubles finals for Salisbury, who with the same partner beat Jamie Murray and Bruno Soares in 2021 and won again in 2023.

But then the prize money was not the $1m (£743,850) it is now.

“Obviously it [the money] is not what you’re thinking about when you’re on court. But it’s great,” Salisbury said after the pair’s semi-final.

“I think it’s great that the prize money in doubles keeps going up and I think obviously they had that up for the mixed doubles and I think it’s great. We’re happy with it. We’ll take it.”

As Salisbury and Skupski prepare for their final, the last British duo to lift the trophy pre-date the tournament. When known as the US National Championships, the brothers Reginald and Laurence Doherty won in 1902 and 1903.

The last all-British men’s pair to reach the final were Mike Sangster and Graham Stilwell in 1964.

Doubles does not enjoy the same profile of the singles, nor the same prize money, but the US Open has done well to counter that interest on the day of the semi-finals by offering free entry to the tournament.

With that backdrop of support inside Louis Armstrong Stadium, Salisbury and Skupski came from behind to ensure they would be in the final.

It will be the British pair’s first final since losing at the French Open in June. They only joined forces at the start of the season, having spent the majority of their careers looking at each other across a net, but have already proved their worth on the doubles circuit.

For Skupski, it has already been a tournament to remember – with the tennis star going viral on social media for his TikTok video detailing all the gifts given to the players.

In the social media video, Skupsi pulled out engraved Birkenstocks, tequila, Ralph Lauren perfume, a Honey Deuce candle, clothing, Beats earbuds and even a Tiffany bracelet. The items are estimated to be worth a total of more than £750.