With tension in her face and an iPhone in her hand, Amanda Anisimova shifted anxiously in the Centre Court waiting area. Glancing nervously from side to side, the 20-year-old briefly perused the names of the past champions embossed in gold lettering on the honours boards flanking the entrance.
Had she studied the one to her right closely enough, Anisimova would have seen Simona Halep’s name under the entry for 2019. Instead, she quickly averted her gaze. Probably just as well. The American would be seeing quite enough of Halep over the 63 minutes that followed.
In truth, Anisimova did well to last even that long. A fortnight ago, she won just three games in a bruising quarter-final against Halep in Bad Homburg. Here, as she trailed by a set and 5-1 with just 49 minutes on the scoreboard, the world No 25 looked to be on course for an identical result. Then, from nowhere, a belated burst of big hitting threatened the most improbable of comebacks.
With nothing left to lose, Anisimova relaxed and began to swing freely. The errors that had blighted her play began to dry up. Drive volleys that had previously flown long found their mark. Backhands flew unchallenged into the corners. Lines were found, and even mishits somehow crept into play. The purple patch earned Anisimova 13 out of 16 points until, finally, she stood on the brink of levelling at 5-5.
At that point, 0-40 down on serve and staring at a second consecutive break against a player who defeated her at the French Open three years ago, Halep decided she had seen enough. She threw down a big first serve, drawing a weak return that she hammered away before slapping her thigh furiously. As Anisimova lapsed into error again, a combination of fine serving and trademark baseline resilience saw Halep through to a 6-2, 6-4 victory, her 12th in succession at the All England Club.
“It was not easy at all because I feel like she played without thinking that she has something to lose, so every ball was really hard hit,” said Halep. “But I refused that she’s going to come at five-all. Even if I was 0-40, I was hard a little bit on myself. I pumped myself. I served very well. I believed I could finish the match 6-4. I really believed it.”
Halep’s form has been a revelation over the past 10 days. Yet to drop a set, she has spent less than six hours on court so far. The quality of her movement and the extra power she has added to her serve neutralised Anisimova’s strengths, limiting the American’s ability to dictate from the baseline, and it was much the same case against Paula Badosa, the fourth seed, whom she dismissed in the previous round. It would surprise no one if Halep’s name made a second appearance on the wall of champions in three days’ time, although first she will need to get past Kazakhstan’s Elena Rybakina, who came through 4-6, 6-2, 6-3 against Ajla Tomljanovic, in Thursday’s semi-final.
It is all far removed from six months ago, when Halep was contemplating retirement as her confidence and enthusiasm for the game dwindled in the wake of a protracted injury layoff that forced her to miss Roland Garros, Wimbledon and the Olympics. The renewed joy and self-belief she has discovered since has been underpinned by her work with Patrick Mouratoglou, the French coach with whom she joined forces three months ago.
“He’s a great person,” said Halep. “We really connected from the first minute. As a coach, he talks super simple but super powerful. I take everything he tells me super good and positive, and I can actually put [it into ] practice. So it’s easy for me to get the information and to display it.
“He’s positive. He trusted in myself that I still can be a good player. He sent me somehow this confidence, and I started to believe in myself again that I have that chance to be a good player again. He thinks that everything is possible.”
Nothing looks more possible than a second title.