Rafael Nadal has now taken to social media to offer a message of support to Amanda Anisimova, after she was heavily beaten in the Wimbledon final.
It was a bruising afternoon of tennis, tough for the neutrals to watch as the 24-year-old won game after game.
Anisimova started slow, and never really picked it up. Her nerves of competing in a first-ever Grand Slam final completely overwhelmed her.
Naturally, when Iga Swiatek struck a winner on match point to round off her 6-0, 6-0 win, a new emotion emerged for the American: sadness.
The tears flowed in the immediate aftermath and spilled over into her on-court interview too. It was a truly heartbreaking scene.
This has provoked an outpouring of support from some really high-profile names, with Dan Evans sending a particularly emotional message to Anisimova straight after.
And now, Rafael Nadal has weighed in.
Rafael Nadal reacts to Iga Swiatek’s Wimbledon title
The Spaniard was a two-time champion at the All-England Club, having participated in some of the most historic matches in Wimbledon history.
However, he has equally been on the end of some real heartbreakers, not least his 2006 and 2007 defeats to Roger Federer.
This makes him best placed to deliver advice on overcoming heartbreak, especially considering his two successes at this event came after those defeats.
And although his message to Anisimova, sent on X, was short, the weight of his name should be enough to listen closely to his advice.
Amanda Anisimova’s real Wimbledon final came against Aryna Sabalenka
It happens all too often in sport, where a player unexpectedly makes their way through a tournament, but falls short in the final.
After all, whilst the expectation of an underdog is low, the pressure increases with each win. Their talent becomes more and more validated, until people genuinely start to believe in their title credentials.
What usually occurs to provoke this final response is a pivotal victory, normally against one of the best teams, or players, in their respective sport.
For Anisimova, that was her semi-final win over Aryna Sabalenka.
There, she will have expended so much physical and emotional energy to overcome the world number one in three gruelling sets.
So, when the actual final rolled around, she was exhausted.
Naturally, nerves among other factors will have contributed to such a dire showing, but Anisimova was undoubtedly affected by the magnitude of that huge win.
