The Wimbledon finalist who lost in qualifying last year

A year ago, Amanda Anisimova was doing her best to avoid thinking about Wimbledon after failing to qualify for the main draw. Now she has a final to prepare for.

The American stunned world number one Aryna Sabalenka - and herself - to reach Saturday's showpiece, with a 6-4 4-6 6-4 win.

The 23-year-old will face Poland's Iga Swiatek in her first Grand Slam final after fulfilling the potential she had shown as a teenager several years ago before taking a lengthy break to look after her mental health.

"To be honest, if you told me I would be in the final of Wimbledon I would not believe you. Especially not this soon," Anisimova said.

"It's been a year's turnaround. To be in the final is just indescribable, honestly."

After losing in the third round of qualifying while ranked 191st in the world, this time last year she was relaxing with her friends and family to take her mind off Wimbledon.

"Every time I'm out of a Grand Slam or a tournament, I take a few days off. I don't turn my phone off, but I don't really follow [what is going on]," she said.

"I like to just relax and spend as much time with whoever I'm with. That's what I was doing [last year]."

Watched on Centre Court by her sister Maria and nephew Jaxson, who was celebrating his fourth birthday, and her best friend and fellow player Priscilla Hon - who had cancelled a training session to be there - Anisimova was surrounded by her loved ones for different reasons on Thursday.

Delivering the type of big-hitting performance that she had shown six years ago in a breakthrough year when she reached the French Open semi-finals, she put herself one win away from a first major title.

She is only the second player in the Open era to reach a women's singles Grand Slam final after losing in qualifying at the previous year's event. The only other woman is Bianca Andreescu, who won the US Open in 2019.

She may be only 23 but Anisimova has been touted as a Grand Slam finalist for a long time.

At the age of 15 she was the junior world number two and she lifted the US Open girls' title in 2017, where she beat two-time Grand Slam singles champion Coco Gauff in the final.

A foot injury then hampered her progress the following year but then in 2019 she had a breakthrough year, winning her first WTA title at the age of 17 to become the youngest winner on the tour since Serena Williams 20 years earlier.

She carried that momentum on into a brilliant run to the French Open semi-finals, beating defending champion Simona Halep and Sabalenka along the way and drawing predictions of a bright career ahead.

But she was stopped in her tracks a couple of months later after the sudden death of her father Konstantin, who was also her coach, just before the US Open.

She struggled on court and it was not until 2022 that she had another deep run at a Grand Slam, when she reached the Wimbledon quarter-finals.

But she then missed much of the 2023 season to look after her mental health before returning last year ranked outside the world's top 400.

She said this run at Wimbledon was a "special message" to anyone who warned her against taking a break.

"A lot of people told me that you would never make it to the top again if you take so much time away from the game," added Anisimova, who reached the Queen's final last month.

"Just me being able to prove that you can get back to the top if you prioritise yourself [has] been incredibly special to me."

This Wimbledon run will lift her to a career-high ranking inside the world's top 10 and she could become the third American woman to win a Grand Slam title this year after Madison Keys at the Australian Open and Coco Gauff at the French Open .

"Amanda Anisimova always had the potential, but she needed to put everything back together in order for her to be able to play at the level she played today," said former Wimbledon champion Marion Bartoli, who is a BBC pundit.

Anisimova, whose parents moved from Russia to the United States before she was born, took up tennis because she used to watch her sister Maria's practice sessions.

With a formidable backhand, Anisimova is one of the best returners in the women's game. She had shown nerves during her quarter-final against Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova but was far more single-minded against Sabalenka, even opting not to offer a customary apology for an unfortunate net cord in the third set.

She seemed to be in disbelief at the end when a forehand winner sealed the victory.

When her achievement finally sinks in, she will be able to start thinking about how her Wimbledon run might translate into her other great love - art.

Anisimova has previously sold her artwork to raise money for mental health causes.

Asked what she might paint to represent her Wimbledon run, she replied: " I don't know. I typically do abstract, so it would be hard.

"A lot of green and white."

She will find out on Saturday whether to add gold to the mix.