'They don't make easy mistakes': Amanda Anisimova's Wimbledon takeaways from Jannik Sinner and Carlos Alcaraz

Amanda Anisimova explained the reasons behind her wide-margin defeat to Iga Swiatek in the Wimbledon final. The American became only the second player in the Open Era to lose a Grand Slam final without winning a single game – the previous instance being at Roland Garros 1988, when Steffi Graf defeated Natalia Zvereva 6-0, 6-0.

Anisimova had enjoyed a couple of weeks of high-level tennis, culminating in the best win of her career in the semifinals against World No. 1 Aryna Sabalenka. However, she had a nightmare day on Center Court against Swiatek. She won only 30% of the points played (31% on her serve). She hit 8 winners and a total of 28 unforced errors – in just 12 games played.

It was Anisimova's first time in a Grand Slam final, coming off 6 consecutive wins. In her last four matches, three had gone to a third set, and she had accumulated 10 hours and 52 minutes on court – including a semifinal that almost reached two hours and 40 minutes against Sabalenka.

In her press conference, Anisimova was asked if her performance in the final was more related to her physical state or nerves due to the significant stage. “I was nervous, but it wasn’t anything out of this world,” she reflected. “If anything, I was more excited to go out there and compete. But yeah, I mean, I didn’t practice yesterday. I think that I was just really fatigued. I could feel it also in my warm-up this morning."

The American only had game points in her favor once – in the third game of the first set. However, Swiatek reeled off several points and secured the second break of the match, at which point Anisimova's emotional decline began to show.

“I mean, I had to take a break after every single rally out there in my warm-up. I think, if anything, it’s my physicality that I need to work on. To be able to last two weeks in a Grand Slam is definitely something that you need to work a lot on. It’s not an easy feat.

“Yeah, there’s a lot of room for improvement,” she said. “I think it’s more experience for me on how to handle nerves. It’s my first slam final, so at least I have that experience now.”

Anisimova mentioned Carlos Alcaraz and Jannik Sinner – both finalists who will compete for the men's Wimbledon title this Sunday – as two players whose ability to handle important stages she wants to emulate. “When I look at certain players like Jannik or Carlos, who I look up to a lot, they don’t make easy mistakes and don’t give almost anything to their opponents,” the new WTA world No. 7 claimed.

“In a sense, I was looking at certain things in that perspective, but then I also reminded myself, nobody’s perfect. I was trying to go into today thinking that, Okay, I’ll accept the mistakes I make. Maybe that wasn’t the right way of going into it."

“I think like, honestly, my fighting spirit has gotten me to the final of today. It wasn’t me playing perfect in a way. There were matches where I struggled and I wasn’t playing to my full potential. I think me just staying focused and fighting my way through certain moments and focusing and also lifting myself up and trying to not get negative on myself was the most important thing. I think that’s really what got me to the final.”