Amanda Anisimova Blasts US Open for her Lack of Day Session Matches Which Contributed to Final Loss

Amanda Anisimova experienced a gut-wrenching second Grand Slam final defeat at the US Open. She had a phenomenal run leading up to the finals of both Wimbledon and the US Open; however, she underperformed in both of those finals. This time it was the bright lights of the Arthur Ashe Stadium that bothered her during her clash against World No. 1 Aryna Sabalenka.

The match took place at 4 pm local time under the closed roof due to rain and thunderstorms, creating an unexpected challenge for Anisimova. The 24-year-old halted play several times to complain to the chair umpire that the stadium lights were too bright and that she couldn’t see the ball. However, she was told that nothing could be done about it. Speaking at the press conference about the issue, Anisimova commented:

I haven’t played on the court during the day with the roof closed, and it was literally white. I couldn’t see the ball when I was serving, like, the whole match. I think starting from the warmup, I was, like, this is really going to be a problem for me. I didn’t know what to do. There was no way of adjusting, because I could not see the ball when I was serving. 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.

Despite the struggles, Anisimova played quite competitively, hitting more winners than Sabalenka (22 to 13). However, she also made more unforced errors than Sabalenka. The Belarusian sealed the win 6-3, 7-6 (7-3) to clinch her fourth Grand Slam title. With this victory, she also avenged her Wimbledon semifinal loss to Anisimova.

Amanda Anisimova and the two Grand Slam finals

Amanda Anisimova reached her maiden Grand Slam final at Wimbledon this year. After a tough three-set win over Aryna Sabalenka in the semifinal, Anisimova was quite exhausted as she headed to the final. She also seemed very nervous, as she could not manage to take a game off of Iga Swiatek in what marked only the second double bagel defeat in a Grand Slam final.