Tennis
2025-11-07 - Aryna Sabalenka vs Amanda Anisimova
A Sports Betting Pick by FirstDown
Tennis: WTA Finals Semi Final
Friday 7th November 2025 - Scheduled 8pm
5pm (British Time)
Preview
The initial big breakthrough on the WTA Tour came back in 2019 when Amanda Anisimova was 17 years old and she reached the French Open Semi Final.
At the 2019 Australian Open, Amanda Anisimova upset Aryna Sabalenka and she won the first four meetings between the players and all while being Ranked outside the top 30.
After taking some time away from the Tour to just unburden herself, Amanda Anisimova has returned with real ambitions to fulfil the obvious potential she had shown in her development and early years as a professional. Reaching back to back Grand Slam Finals will give the American something to build upon in 2026 and Amanda Anisimova is playing with confidence having beaten Madison Keys and Iga Swiatek in her last two Group matches here to reach the Semi Final in her maiden appearance at the WTA Finals.
One of the wins on the way to reached the Wimbledon Final was against Aryna Sabalenka, but the World Number 1 earned revenge over Amanda Anisimova by beating her in the US Open Final in September.
Aryna Sabalenka also beat Anisimova in the French Open Fourth Round and she has now won four of the last six matches against the World Number 4.
The Belarusian has won all three matches at the WTA Finals, but it still feels like there is room for improvement in her level of performance.
She has served herself out of some tough situations, but Aryna Sabalenka will want to just get a bit more out of that shot to try and keep herself out of pressurised situations. Completely erasing those against someone like Amanda Anisimova is not likely, but Sabalenka has to take some heart out of the way Elena Rybakina got the better of this opponent in the Group Stage and feel she can at least reach a similar level.
Amanda Anisimova has been improving her serving numbers in each of the matches played in the tournament, which is perhaps partly down to becoming accustomed to the conditions.
However, it is the World Number 1 who has had the superior consistency on the return and that was the case when these two players met in the US Open Final.
There is so much to like about the Amanda Anisimova game and a slight improvement in 2026 will lead to Grand Slam titles on her current trajectory.
She has beaten Sabalenka in a big moment at Wimbledon, but the top Seed has won at two other Grand Slam events and that win over Anisimova in New York City could be repeated here. That was a close match and Aryna Sabalenka had to dig deep when broken after serving for the set, but it was won under indoor conditions and the World Number 1 can move into the Final here with a win and a cover of the handicap mark set.
Prediction
Lay the games with the World Number 1 who has won all three matches in the tournament.
The Pick :
Aryna Sabalenka 2-0 Amanda Anisimova
