Patrick McEnroe has offered Amanda Anisimova some advice immediately after her loss in the US Open final.
After all, while she performed admirably, tonight marked the second-straight Grand Slam final defeat for the American, this time in front of her home crowd.
It was a crushing blow, and one that will not be easy to overcome given the experience she suffered in the Wimbledon final.
However, as she touched upon in her on-court speech, she will learn so much from these hardships.
McEnroe has suggested that there is just one area of her game that needs honing to turn her into a Grand Slam champion.
Patrick McEnroe gives Amanda Anisimova advice after US Open final defeat
Speaking live on ESPN, he first touched upon Sabalenka’s greatness, claiming: “You know, her growth over the years, Chrissie said it, how she handles these big moments, she gets emotional at times, that’s gotten in her way at times, but I think her steely demeanour, her steely nerves, her steadiness throughout that match, you look at her numbers, just 13 winners are pretty low number, but only 15 unforced errors is because she knew that’s what she needed to do to beat out of a moment.”
He then moved across to his compatriot: “I think Amanda, she’s gonna go up to number four in the ranking.
“That’s a huge leap for her in the last couple of months. She has a lot to be proud of, what she’s done, not only here, but at Wimbledon as well, and making no mistake about it.
“Once she learns, I think, to control her emotions just a bit more, she’s going to be winning these titles as well in the not-too-distant future.
“But this is a day for Sabalenka.”
Chris Evert did question Anisimova’s complaint to the umpire mid-match though, wondering whether it was an appropriate issue to be so flustered about.
Amanda Anisimova just made too many errors vs Aryna Sabalenka
Whilst Sabalenka played extremely well in the circumstances, it was clear that one of the two had played in events like these far more often.
After all, the 27-year-old managed the match with far more intelligence, remaining solid when she had to, and therefore limiting her errors.
Anisimova, meanwhile, was reckless at times, and endured tough spells where she would allow games to run away from her because of her inability to just hang in the rally.
She hit 29 unforced errors, which is a stark figure compared to Sabalenka’s 14.
That, in the end, proved to be the difference.
