It was a warmer day than expected at Wimbledon on Thursday, with multiple delays as Aryna Sabalenka and Amanda Anisimova squared during the first match of the day.
In the first set, Sabalenka and Anisimova had to stop playing twice after two different fans went through a medical episode in the heat-related stands.
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The first incident occurred in the fifth game of the first set. Play was temporarily stopped as all the action was tied to 40-40 as fans attracted attention in the stands. Sabalenka stepped up in that moment and brought water to the fans.
Sabalenka gathered after a stop and scored two straight points to win the game.
A few games later there was another stop due to the heat. Sabalenka took action again and brought water to the stands to help a second fan who was suffering from the heat.
At Wimbledon, temperatures reached 84 degrees, with many fans sitting directly under the sun.
A short pause in action distracted me from the excellent first set. Both Sabalenka and Anisimova traded the game before Anisimova scored an early 6-4 victory early.
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Sabalenka fought back in the second set, pulling the game to the final set 6-4. After a fantastic and back-and-forth match, it was Anishimoba. She defeated the first female player 6-4, 4-6, 6-4 to advance to the first Wimbledon Final.
Following two early stops, Anishimoba and Sabalenka were able to play matches that did not pause the rest of the road.
Unfortunately, it wasn’t the last medical halt of the day. Another semi-final match between Iga Swiatek and Belinda Bencic also experienced a brief pause early in the first set. As Swiatek rose 3-0, officials attended another fan in the stands suffering from the heat.
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The delay did not slow the Swiatek. She performed incredible times in her 6-2, 6-0 win over the Bensik. With the victory, Swiatek will take on Amisimova in the first Wimbledon final for both players.
Apart from these three fan halts, there were no additional match delays during the women’s singles due to the weather on Thursday.
