Darren Cahill has offered his expert analysis on tonight’s women’s US Open final, won by Aryna Sabalenka in straight sets at the expense of Amanda Anisimova.
For the American, the result marked her second straight defeat in a Grand Slam final, albeit a far more competitive one than her Wimbledon beatdown.
In the end, both ended with the same result, forcing her to leave the court empty-handed once again.
It’s sure to be a crushing blow for the 24-year-old, but one that will certainly shape her going forward. These losses will provide crucial experience that is guaranteed to help her one day lift a major title.
That is what Cahill tried to emphasise in his post-match analysis, but he did have to point out the area of her game that he felt let her down.
Darren Cahill reviews Amanda Anisimova’s performance in the US Open final
Speaking live on ESPN, he began by naturally praising the victor.
Cahill, lauding Aryna Sabalenka, stated: “She had a really good read on Amanda’s game tonight. She took care of the second serve points, which was a big difference in that match they played.
“When she had the opportunity to put balls away, she didn’t panic, she didn’t try to go over, she just went to the open court, and she played a very technical match today. And most importantly, she kept her emotions in check. She was the more experienced player today.”
He was unsurprisingly more critical about Amanda Anisimova, as he continued: “Nothing but up. She’s at four [in the world rankings]. This is not too many places she can go above four, but she will win major titles. I think plural.
“She’s got the type of game that she can take the racket out of any single player that she plays against, and shot selection let her down a little bit today, but most of that credit goes to Sabalenka because of the power and pace that she was putting on her, but when she learns to keep that extra ball in and just craft the point a little bit.
“She did that midway through the second set: she started to play a few cross-court forehands, shorter in the box to open up more court. Then you can take the big forehand down the line, and for the first set and a half, she was just trying to blast everything, and that’s why we saw all the unforced errors.
“But nothing but up for Amanda. She’s absolutely committed herself to this sport. She’s training harder than ever. Mentally, she’s in the game, she wants it more desperately than ever, and she’s going to win major titles, in my opinion.”
Elsewhere, stars like Billie Jean King and Rod Laver sent messages to Sabalenka, congratulating the new two-time US Open champion.
Amanda Anisimova’s reaction to losing the US Open final
Anisimova unsurprisingly cut a tearful figure as she was forced on stage to talk through her emotions after her loss.
However, she recovered brilliantly and gave a mature speech in tough circumstances.
Standing in front of her home crowd, the two-time Grand Slam finalist claimed: “It’s been a great summer. Losing in two finals in a row is great, but it’s also super hard. I think I didn’t fight hard enough for my dreams today.
“But I just want to say congrats to Aryna, you are so incredible. I know I have to face you all the time, but I am in awe of what you have accomplished, and you keep on achieving so many incredible things, so a big congratulations to you and your team. You guys are amazing.”
She then concluded by thanking those fans: “Thank you everyone for coming out and supporting me at my home slam for all of the two weeks. It’s been an incredible fortnight. I love playing here, and it’s always been a dream of mine to play at the US Open. So thank you to everyone who has made this happen.”
