Anisimova 'frozen with nerves' in heavy Wimbledon loss

From the moment Amanda Anisimova stepped out on to Centre Court, you could see the tension etched across her face.

The 23-year-old American had never played in a Grand Slam final before and, as the 6-0 6-0 defeat by Iga Swiatek in the Wimbledon final showed, the occasion overwhelmed her.

From the start of a match which lasted 57 minutes, Anisimova looked tight and made a stream of unforced errors as she fell to the heaviest defeat in a women's final at the All England Club in more than a century.

"From my side, I think I was a bit frozen there with my nerves," said Anisimova, who will rise to a career high of seventh in the world rankings after a run that included beating world number one Aryna Sabalenka.

"There's a lot of room for improvement. If anything, 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 left the court briefly at the end of the match before returning for the prize-giving ceremony, where she was consoled by Catherine, Princess of Wales.

Anisimova did not want to disclose the full nature of their conversation, but said the "kind words" offered by the royal helped pick her up.

"It was such an honour to meet her," Anisimova added.

"She definitely had a few things to say that were making me emotional again. She told me to keep my head high.

"She had all the best to say to me. I guess it was a positive of today and I can try and focus on that and not the match."

The Princess of Wales had "kind words" for Anisimova after a chastening afternoon

Anisimova, who also reached the Queen's final last month, said fatigue had played a part in her performance.

She did not practise on Friday and said she felt she "had to take a break after every single rally" during her warm-up on Saturday.

"I feel like maybe the last few weeks have got to me in a way and I wasn't able to perform to my full potential," she told BBC Sport.

"But I can still walk away from today with my head high. I am taking today as a learning experience and coming out a bit stronger."

How quickly might Anisimova recover?

Getting over a demoralising defeat can take time for some players.

Germany's Alexander Zverev talked about "feeling lost" after suffering a third successive Grand Slam final defeat.

But others - like Jannik Sinner, who reached the Wimbledon men's final 35 days after losing a classic French Open final - have been able to quickly bounce back.

Anisimova, who took a break from the sport two years ago to protect her mental health, might look to what she learned during a stint studying business with psychology at university.

She hopes a quote by American author Marianne Williamson - about how pain can "burn you up and destroy you or burn you up and redeem you" - will help the process.

And she will also take inspiration from the quote from Rudyard Kipling's poem If - 'If you can meet with triumph and disaster, and treat those two impostors just the same' - that is above the entrance to Centre Court.

"I think it's really helpful that that quote is up there and it's definitely going to stay on my mind the next few days," she told BBC Sport.

Former world number one Tracy Austin said she hoped Anisimova would recover well because of the work she has done on her mentality.

"Having her people around - her mum, sister and nephew are in town - will help," Austin told BBC Sport.

"She might be able to quickly realise that it is her first major final against a former world number one who was 5-0 in major finals.

"This was a lot for Amanda to take on. Wimbledon adds another 25-30% of pressure because it is Wimbledon."

Anisimova said she had never lost a match 6-0 6-0.

"For it to be in my first Grand Slam final was definitely very hard to digest, but I've been in difficult situations before in my career, and I feel like I've learned so much from those moments," she told BBC Sport.

"The only thing I told myself was to keep my head high and to keep fighting because I didn't want to let myself down at any moment."

What's it like to be overcome by nerves?

Anisimova showed nerves in some of her previous matches – including her semi-final win over top seed Sabalenka - but was able to overcome them.

While Anisimova said she felt nerves before the showpiece match, she added they were not "out of this world".

But the pressure of playing in a Wimbledon final took its toll.

"She's playing in front of 15,000 people and you feel such a pressure to perform," said British former player Naomi Broady.

"People have spent so much money on their tickets and they want to see a great match and you are desperate to do so, not just for them but for yourself, your team, your family.

"She just couldn't shake the nerves, the moment became too much for her."