World No. 1 and title contender Aryna Sabalenka was pushed on the backfoot by Laura Siegemund in the women’s singles quarterfinal of Wimbledon 2025 before Sabalenka rallied to beat Siegemund in a contest that ran nearly three hours for a place in the semi-finals.
Sabalenka had to come back twice from a break down in the deciding set to beat the 37-year-old German 4-6, 6-2, 6-4. The Belarusian has reached the final of the past three majors. She won the US Open 2024 and the Australian Open 2025 for two back-to-back titles after beating two Americans — Jessica Pegula (US Open) and Madison Keys (Australian Open) — in the finals. At the French Open, Sabalenka was handed a loss by the USA’s Coco Gauff.
Sabalenka said she was impressed by Siegemund and felt she had to pack her bags after the first set.
“I need some time to recover … She pushed me so much and honestly after the first set I was just like looking at my box, thinking like, ‘Guys I mean like book the tickets you know, I think we’re about to leave this beautiful city, country, place’,” said Sabalenka after the win. “I had to make sure I didn’t show I was annoyed by her – even if I was slightly, I didn’t want to give her that energy.”
“But wow she played an incredible tournament, an incredible match and I’m just super happy right now with the win and, oh my god guys, like atmosphere — it’s just another level,” she added.
Sabalenka said afterwards that she had learnt from her French Open final loss to Coco Gauff, adding: “I think there’s a big possibility that I would have lose this match if I didn’t learn that lesson. I’m really proud that I handled myself really well and didn’t repeat the same mistake I did at the French Open.”
The World No. 1 will face 13th seed Amanda Anisimova for a place in the final after the American beat Russian Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova 6-1, 7-6 (11-9).
