The name Natascha Zvereva was once again typed into computers and phones around the world on Saturday. Small consolation for American Amanda Anisimova: back in 1988, Germany’s Steffi Graf needed only 32 minutes to sweep the Belarusian off the court in the Roland Garros final. Anisimova held out for 57 minutes against Poland’s Iga Swiatek.
But the result was the same: 6-0, 6-0 in Paris in 1988, 6-0, 6-0 in London in 2025. The only two Grand Slam finals in the professional tennis era to end with that always undesirable result.
‘I ran out of gas a little bit today,’ Anisimova summed up in a trophy speech five times longer than that of Swiatek, the first Polish woman to win the singles tournament at the All England Club.
Paradoxically, Anisimova won the hearts of the spectators with the heartfelt words she addressed to her mother.
Heartbreaking is an understatement. pic.twitter.com/IlZsNym7IE
— Clay (@_claymagazine) July 12, 2025
Amid the drama, she brought warmth to an anticlimactic afternoon that belied something essential in sport, namely that the two best players in the tournament reach the final.
Would it have been better not to play the final, would it have been better not to defeat Aryna Sabalenka 6-4 in the third set in a battle lasting almost three hours?
That semi-final battle had a direct impact on the outcome of the final, although it was not decisive. In any case, no one will take away Anisimova’s status as a Wimbledon finalist, always a superlative honour in tennis and sport. But no one will take away the stain of the 6-0, 6-0 defeat in the final either.
For the WTA and Wimbledon, it’s bad news, because a Grand Slam final is an asset, a product to be sold, especially this year when they sought to boost its exposure by changing the schedule. Just compare what happened on Saturday at the All England Club with the Roland Garros final between Carlos Alcaraz and Jannik Sinner.
In the end, John McEnroe was almost right: the awards ceremony lasted almost longer than the final. And no tournament wants that.
