Polish great Iga Swiatek and American comeback star Amanda Anisimova will contest the Wimbledon women’s final after reaching the showdown in dramatically different fashion in a fresh Centre Court heatwave.

Swiatek swept through her one-sided match against Swiss mum Belinda Bencic 6-2 6-0 to reach her sixth major final, showing the sort of ruthless form that will ensure she should start favourite to land her sixth grand slam crown too in Saturday’s final.

But earlier on Thursday, American Anisimova demonstrated she will be a formidable opponent as she knocked out world No.1 Aryna Sabalenka, while exorcising the memory of her French Open nightmare against Ash Barty the last time she was in a semi-final.

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The 23-year-old Anisimova, seeded 13, always had the favourite on the run as her clean power-hitting earned her the most hard-fought and fluctuating of 6-4 4-6 6-4 victories.

It was the first time in six years, since was considered one of the game’s wunderkinds at 17, that the New Jersey star Anisimova had made it to the last-four of a grand slam.

On that occasion back in 2019, she held a set and a 3-0 lead over Barty at Roland Garros only to collapse on the home straight and allow the Australian to battle back and eventually not only win that match but the entire tournament.

On Thursday, though, she was much better equipped to prevail after a long journey back to the top which had featured her taking a year’s break from the sport in May 2023 because of burn-out, when admitting that she was struggling with her mental health.

There were moments on Thursday when she still looked as if the pressure might be getting to her again as she lost the second set and saw her dominant 5-2 lead in the second pegged back to 5-4 while squandering a match point.

But she again raised her game as Sabalenka served to stay in the match, missing out on two further match-point opportunities before prevailing after two hours 36 minutes in a terrific semi-final.

“This doesn’t feel real right now,” she said. “I don’t know how I pulled it out.”

For Sabalenka, who replaced Swiatek at No.1 in October as the world No.1, this defeat prevented her from becoming the first woman to reach four consecutive slam finals since Serena Williams a decade ago.

And she was not happy, frustrated by two incidents that could be interpreted as poor sportsmanship.

“I was just trying to chase the ball,” the 27-year-old explained after the match.

“She was already celebrating it. I mean, that’s a bit too early. Then she kind of pissed me off saying, ‘Oh, that’s what she does all the time’.

“I was grateful that she actually said that because it actually helped me to keep fighting. I’m like, ‘OK, now I’m going to show you the tennis’.

“I came back because I got really angry in that moment, probably in the third set I should have remembered that.”

There was another moment as well that also annoyed Sabalenka.

Anisimova won a point when the ball clipped the top of the net and failed to raise a hand to recognise her good fortune and apologise (as is the expected norm among players).

“I just looked at her and, I mean, for sure she didn’t hear me. I was like, ‘You don’t want to say sorry?’ She just wanted, I guess, badly to win this match,” Sabalenka said.

Facing the media after the match, Sabalenka was determined to stay calm and did no want a repeat of her Roland Garros debacle where she had a meltdown and fans turned on her.

“I just don’t want to face that hate again. We all can lose control over our emotions. It’s absolutely normal,” she said.

“Every time when I was really that close today to completely lose it and start yelling, screaming, smashing the racquets, I kept reminding myself that’s not an option, and it’s not going to help me to stay in the match and to fight for my dream.

“Even right now I took a bit more time before doing my media just so I can be Aryna, not that crazy person that been on that media day at Roland Garros.”

But did take a parting shot at the reporters.

“Ha, ha, ha, you didn’t get anything,” she said and then stuck out her tongue.

As for Anisimova — who looked fried in on-court temperatures topping 31 degrees — she was happy to celebrate being the first American player since Williams six years ago to make the Wimbledon final.

In the subsequent match, Bencic, the Swiss former Olympic champion who’s been making such a striking comeback since returning from a maternity break, was simply blown away by five-time slam champion Swiatek, who has at last discovered a real aptitude on the grass courts this season.

The one-time Wimbledon junior champion, so dominant on other surfaces, had not looked at home in five previous visits, never getting beyond the quarter-final.

Yet she’s looked superb at this edition and would have taken even less time in overwhelming Bencic if not for a lengthy delay three games into the contest, when, for the third time during both matches, a spectator was taken unwell in the sun and had to be treated.

“I thought I’d experienced everything on the court, but I didn’t experience playing well on grass. It’s the first time and I’m super excited,” beamed Swiatek, while Bencic’s hopes of becoming the first mother to win Wimbledon since Australian Evonne Goolagong Cawley 45 years ago were ended ruthlessly.

- With www.20304050.best