AMANDA Anisimova believes she failed to fight hard enough during her US Open final loss to Aryna Sabalenka on Saturday.
The 24-year-old American also admitted to suffering a recurrence of nerves in her second Grand Slam final appearance.
Anisimova, who was also runner-up at Wimbledon in July, fell short again in her bid for a breakthrough major title.
She lost 6-3, 7-6 (7/3) to the reigning champion and world number one from Belarus.
Anisimova caused problems for Sabalenka with her powerful game but could not maintain a consistent level against her more experienced rival.
Losing in two finals is great but it is also super hard.
She stated that she did not fight hard enough for her dreams during the match.
Anisimova acknowledged that she simply did not do enough to win and must accept that reality.
She felt like she was in the back seat throughout the contest and was not playing her best tennis.
After a traumatic 6-0, 6-0 loss to Iga Swiatek at Wimbledon, Anisimova said she was frozen by nerves at the All England Club.
She is continually trying to prove this aspect of her game as she challenges for the sport’s biggest prizes.
Anisimova feels she has a lot of nerves in finals and is trying to work on playing more aggressively.
She credited Sabalenka for playing amazing and very aggressive tennis while doing all the right things.
Anisimova had her chances in the first set after digging herself out of an early hole with two service breaks for a 3-2 lead.
She could not consolidate that position and found it difficult to pick up the ball with the roof closed on Arthur Ashe Stadium.
Sabalenka won the next four games to take the set after a torrential downpour in the area.
Anisimova had not played on the court during the day with the roof closed and described the conditions as literally white.
She could not see the ball when serving and called it a huge shock to her system.
The American described the situation as extremely frustrating for her during the match.
Anisimova was repeatedly playing catch-up in the second set and although she broke Sabalenka with the top seed serving for the match, her challenge fizzled out in the tiebreak.
Making it to the final is obviously really special but it would have been a dream come true to make it all the way.
She hopes to keep working really hard to give herself more opportunities to be in more and more finals. – AFP
