World No.1 'cheesed off' as American reaches the final

IT IS fair to say Amanda Anisimova got under the skin of Aryna Sabalenka en route to her first Grand Slam tournament final.

- By Andy Dunn

But the 23-year-old from New Jersey will have to pull off some truly dastardly tricks tomorrow, if she is to leave Iga Swiatek as fed up as Sabalenka was on Centre Court yesterday.

During her 6-4 4-6 6-4 loss the world No.1 accused Anisimova of celebrating a point too early, and stared her rival down when the American failed to say sorry for a lucky winner that clipped the net.

Referring to what she thought was that premature celebration, Sabalenka said: “She kind of cheesed me off.”

As for the traditional acknowledgement of good fortune — or lack of — after a favourable net cord, Sabalenka added: “I was like, ‘You don’t want to say sorry?’ She just wanted, I guess, to win this match badly. If she doesn’t feel like saying sorry that’s on her.”