Eighth seed Amanda Anisimova was looking to banish her 6-0, 6-0 drubbing to Iga Swiatek in the Wimbledon final and go one better in Saturday’s title match against top seed Aryna Sabalenka at the US Open.
And having defeated former champion Naomi Osaka in the semi-final in a three-set thriller ending close to 1am, there were also some real questions about how she would cope physically – as well as mentally – going into her second Grand Slam final.
“I was mostly nervous,” said Anisimova, “But I really learned from the last final and that Grand Slam of what I need to do. I was kind of treating it like I have a marathon every single day, and I’m going to be ready for it. I was training as hard as I could, throughout any fatigue that I had. I was really trying to do all the right things to give myself the best possible chance of winning, but just wasn’t enough.”
At a set and a break down, things were not looking good for the American in front of her home fans. But she fought back to three games all and once again later on when Sabalenka was serving for the match, before breaking back and forcing a tie-break.
Anisimova thanked the crowd for their passionate support: “It was an amazing atmosphere, and I tried to enjoy it as much as I could. Especially in the second set when I started to come back, they were really backing me, and I think that was really helpful to try and stay in the match.”
Anisimova hit 22 winners compared to just 13 from her opponent, with her laser-like backhand doing most of the damage. Yet the 24-year-old consistently felt rushed and lacked any rhythm and momentum.
“I knew that I had to be the more aggressive player if I want to win, and it was just really hard on this given day,” she said. “I was trying to stay in the match and figure out a way of how I could make it more difficult for her. The rallies weren’t long at all. It was really tough, and I didn’t really notice that I was making more winners than her.”
Anisimova also had major problems adjusting to the lights inside the closed arena which in particular affected her service motion, and she even spoke to the umpire between sets asking for a solution.
“There was no way of adjusting, because I could not see the ball when I was serving,” said Anisimova. “That was a huge shock to my system, because I knew if I can’t hold my serve, it was going to be very tough to stay in the match. It was extremely frustrating for me. I was not expecting that at all, and that made my serving today very, very difficult.”
Post match in her on-court interview, and perhaps with emotions still raw from the 6-3, 7-6 loss, Anisimova said she “didn’t fight hard enough for her dreams today.” She later expanded on those words by insisting – despite hitting 29 unforced errors – that she should have gone even harder:
“I just felt like throughout the match I wasn’t playing my best tennis,” she said. “I feel like with finals I have a lot of nerves, and it’s something I’m trying to work on, but I just wish I played more aggressive. Of course, she was playing amazing. She was playing very aggressive and doing all the right things, so she made it very difficult for me today. I didn’t win today, so of course I didn’t do enough. That’s just the reality, and I have to accept that. I feel like if I fought harder, then maybe I would have given myself more of a chance, but I feel like I was really kind of in the back seat.”
Anisimova gave huge credit to Sabalenka and her phenomenal tie-break record where she has won her past 19 shootouts. “That’s the reason why she’s No. 1. She was playing great tennis from the start. She’s very capable of playing amazing tennis, which she did. I truly really admire her, and she puts in a lot of work, and that’s why she’s where she is. We’ve had a lot of tough matches. I wish today (Saturday’s final) would have gone a bit deeper, but that’s the way it is.”
In spite of defeat, the Anisimova remained upbeat for her future chances.: “I’ve been really motivated, and I really wanted to give myself the best shot in the final. Making it to the final is obviously really special, but it would have been a dream come true to make it all the way. I hope I can keep working really hard to give myself more opportunities to be in more and more finals.”
