Amanda Anisimova said her struggles on serve during her US Open final defeat to Aryna Sabalenka were not helped by the closed roof on Arthur Ashe Stadium and her inability to see the ball on her ball toss.
Anisimova lost her second grand slam final in succession as Sabalenka retained her US Open crown with a 6-4 7-6 victory against the American in New York
The 24-year-old Anisimova was playing in her first US Open final, just eight weeks after a 6-0 6-0 defeat to Iga Swiatek in the Wimbledon final.
Heavy rain and storms in Queen’s before the match began meant the roof was closed on Arthur Ashe Stadium for the final. Anisimova also played under a closed roof during her semi-final win over Naomi Osaka on Thursday night, but explained the conditions were different for the final because it was during the day.
“I haven’t played on the court during the day with the roof closed, and it was literally, like, white, and I couldn’t see the ball when I was serving,” Anisimova said. “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, and 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.
“Of course, now I know that, and it’s something I can bring into other tournaments or when I have to experience that again, but it was extremely frustrating for me. I mean, I was not expecting that at all, and that made my serving today very, very difficult.”
Anisimova appeared to speak with the umpire towards the end of the first set and said during her runners-up speech that she “didn’t fight hard enough for my dreams today”.
Anisimova is still set to reach a career-high of fourth in the world on Monday but said she was disappointed with how she played in the final. She made 29 unforced errors to Sabalenka’s 15 during the match.
“I just felt like throughout the match I wasn’t playing my best tennis,” Anisimova 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 today.”
