Former WTA Tour star Marion Bartoli offered an explanation as to why Amanda Anisimova folded 6-0, 6-0 in the Wimbledon final against Iga Swiatek.
It was a first Grand Slam final for the 13th seed, who is now up to seventh in the WTA Rankings, and came after a run of significant victories.
Anisimova rallied from a break down in the deciding set to beat 30th seed Linda Noskova in the fourth round, before surviving a nervy finish to her quarter-final against Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova.
That was followed by a stunning three-set semi-final triumph over top seed and title favourite Aryna Sabalenka, with the American defeating a reigning world No. 1 for the first time in her career.
Speaking in her post-final press conference, the 23-year-old admitted that she had been “really fatigued” after beating Sabalenka in the last four, and had struggled to practice ahead of facing Swiatek.
And Bartoli, who lost the 2007 Wimbledon final before triumphing in 2013, believes this was likely the key factor in the manner of her defeat.
Speaking to Clay and RG Media, the former world No. 7 claimed that Anisimova would have felt a “bit flat” coming into the match.
“Amanda arrived tired, physically tired,” said Bartoli.
“She said in her press conference that even in the morning, in the practice, she had to take a lot of sit-downs, and she was feeling tired already. And she had that very long matches against Aryna Sabalenka and even the one against Noskova.
“Grand Slams are long and take a lot of energy out of you. And I think being in that position for the first time, she definitely felt physically a bit flat coming into the match.
“And then Iga’s on top of that, it’s just not giving you anything really. And being on top of the serve, on top of the return, on top of the rally from the back of the court.
“It was just a difficult match-up for Amanda because she couldn’t get anything going. She couldn’t get her serve going. She was not dominating from the back of the court. She was not leading as cleanly as before. And you can put that on the fatigue, I think.
“And of course the stress and the nerves of coming out to play a Grand Slam final. But I think the fatigue, especially the physical fatigue, played a big part in her not being at her best. And then Iga being really, really, really good on the court.”
Anisimova was the first woman in 37 years to lose a Grand Slam final 6-0, 6-0, following Natasha Zvereva’s infamous 32-minute loss to Steffi Graf at the 1988 French Open.
The only other 6-0, 6-0 in a Grand Slam final was also at Wimbledon back in 1911, when Dorothea Lambert Chambers beat Dora Boothby.
However, speaking after the match, the American insisted that she would return “stronger” in the future.
She commented: “It was a bit tough to digest obviously, especially during and right after. It’s not how I would have wanted my first Grand Slam final to go.
“I think I was a little bit in shock after, as well. But I told myself: ‘I’ll definitely come out stronger after this.’ I mean, that’s not an easy thing to go through, losing 0-0 in a Grand Slam final.
“If anything, I can look at it as a positive and something I can look at as motivation going forward. Obviously, there’s a lot of things I need to do to progress.”
