Thursday features the ladies’ singles semifinals, as well as the championship match in mixed doubles.
Aryna Sabalenka is the favorite to win her fourth Major, and her first at Wimbledon. However, she faces her toughest test of the fortnight in the semifinals, as she takes on Amanda Anisimova, who is playing the best tennis of her career, and leads their head-to-head 5-3.
The other ladies’ singles semifinal sees five-time Major champion Iga Swiatek square off against Olympic gold medalist Belinda Bencic.
Day 11 also hosts the mixed doubles championship match, alongside the semifinals in gentlemen’s doubles.
Aryna Sabalenka (1) vs. Amanda Anisimova (13) – 1:30pm on Centre Court
Anisimova claimed their first four meetings, three of which occurred on clay, though Sabalenka has now taken three of their last four. That includes a straight-set victory in the round of 16 just last month at Roland Garros. This will be their first matchup on grass.
Sabalenka leads the WTA with 47 wins on the year. After missing this tournament a year ago due to injury, she will extend her big lead over the field in the rankings, to as much as a 6,000-point gap if she wins this title. Aryna has dropped only one set to this stage, in a dramatic quarterfinal against Laura Siegemund. The top seed will surely need to significantly improve her form from that match, as she landed only 65% of her first serves, won only 33% of her second serve points, and got broken six times. Siegemund’s guile and variety forced Sabalenka out of her comfort zone, and now she faces a much different opponent in Anisimova, who is a big, flat hitter with a stellar backhand.
While Major semifinals were a huge stumbling block earlier in her career, Aryna has won five of her last six, and now holds a record of 5-5 in this round. However, she’s 0-2 in Wimbledon semifinals, with a pair of narrow losses in three sets.
Amanda’s straight-set quarterfinal victory over Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova marked her 30th match win of the season. The 23-year-old American has lost two sets through five rounds, and will debut inside the world’s top eight on Monday, with the possibility of rising all the way to No.5 with this title. This is a second Major semifinal for Anisimova, and her first in over six years, when she became a surprise Roland Garros semifinalist at the age of just 17.
History tells us Amanda’s aggressive game bothers Aryna, and the World No.1 not only has scar tissue to overcome from previous Wimbledon semifinals, but also from two tough losses in Major finals this season. So I expect Sabalenka to feel nervous under the pressure that comes with being the presumed favorite to win this event. However, she’s the far more experienced player in matches of this caliber, and Anisimova will certainly be experiencing some nerves as well. All things considered, Sabalenka should be able to reach her first Wimbledon final. Her power from the back of the court is simply daunting for any player to overcome.
Belinda Bencic vs. Iga Swiatek (8) – Second on Centre Court
Swiatek now joins Sabalenka in rarified air, as a player who has achieved a semifinal at all four Majors. And it’s a bit of a surprise coming off such a disappointing clay court season, where Iga failed to win a title, or even reach a final, on her best surface. Just a month later, she’s never looked more comfortable on her worst surface.
Swiatek has been returning excellently during this tournament, breaking serve 22 times out of 11 sets thus far. She’s 5-3 in Slam semifinals, though she’s lost her last two, which both came during 2025. In Melbourne, she was upset by Madison Keys, despite holding a match point. In Paris, she again lost in three sets, this time to Sabalenka.
Just like Anisimova, this is only a second Major semifinal for Bencic, and her first since 2019. Back then in New York, she lost in straights to eventual champion Bianca Andreescu. Now less than a year after returning from maternity leave, Belinda is back in this round of a Slam, after upsetting seventh-seeded Mirra Andreeva in a tight two-setter on Wednesday.
Swiatek is 3-1 against Bencic, with the Swiss’ only victory coming at the 2021 US Open. Their last meeting took place two years ago at this same tournament, and it was a doozy. Iga eventually prevailed 6-3 in the third after over three hours of play, in a match that only featured three breaks of serve across all three sets, which is surprising as neither player’s serve is their biggest weapon.
Belinda plays a much different style than Iga’s last two opponents (Tauson, Samsonova), big servers who struggled to contend with Swiatek in extended rallies. Bencic loves to open up the court with her backhand down the line, and she likely won’t give away as many points as Tauson or Samsonova did with their nervous play. This may be Swiatek’s biggest test of this event to date, but I still like her chances of advancing to Saturday’s championship match. Her game has finally clicked on this surface, and Iga is extremely tough to beat when she is striking the ball with this much confidence.
Other Notable Matches on Thursday:
Marcelo Arevalo and Mate Pavic (1) vs. Rinky Hijikata and David Pel – Arevalo and Pavic are vying for their second Major final as a team. Hijikata and Pel are surprise semifinalists who already survived two extended deciding-set tiebreaks, and also upset the third-seeded team of Krawietz and Puetz.
Marcel Granollers and Horacio Zeballos (4) vs. Julian Cash and Lloyd Glasspool (5) – Granollers and Zeballos are two-time Wimbledon runners-up, and are coming off the first Major title of their partnership last month in Paris. Cash and Glasspool and looking to become the first all-British team to reach the gentlemen’s doubles final at The Championships in 65 years.
Sem Verbeek and Katerina Siniakova vs. Joe Salisbury and Luisa Stefani – Siniakova is already a 10-time Major champion in women’s doubles, as she now plays for her first Major in mixed. This is a first Major final for her partner, Verbeek. Salisbury is a six-time Slam champ between men’s and mixed doubles, while Stefani won a mixed doubles Major two years ago in Australia. On Wednesday in the ladies’ doubles quarterfinals, Siniakova (and Taylor Townsend) prevailed over Stefani (and Timea Babos).
Thursday’s full Order of Play is here.
