With their victories, Sabalenka and Anisimova will turn the US Open final into a personal 2025 rubber match. At Roland Garros, they met in the fourth round; Sabalenka won 7-5, 6-3. At Wimbledon, they met in the semifinals; Anisimova won 6-4, 4-6, 6-4 in one of the best matches of the year.
Anisimova’s Wimbledon win ran her record against the world No. 1 to 6-3. From their first meeting, at the Australian Open six years ago, the New Jersey native has thrived against Sabalenka. Against most opponents, Sabalenka’s heavy ground strokes will handcuff them, push them back, bounce up out of their strike zones. Against the 5’11” Anisimova, they just feed into her own, equally powerful strokes, and come back flatter and harder.
The rallies will be fast-paced and, if their back-and-forth Wimbledon semi is any indication, they’ll trade control of those rallies every few games.
“We’ve had very, very tough matches,” Anisimova says. “A lot of them have actually been at Grand Slams, too. But I think the standout one was probably Wimbledon. It was really a seesaw match, which is almost always the case when I play her.”
