Anisimova became the first woman to lose a Wimbledon final by that scoreline since 1911 and the first to do so at any major since Steffi Graf demolished Natasha Zvereva at the 1988 French Open.

It was the first Wimbledon final for both players, but the nerves proved too much for Anisimova and it was all over in less than an hour.  

Eighth seed Swiatek raced through the first set in just 25 minutes and even though the crowd was sympathetic towards the American, things did not improve in the second set. After the match, a tearful Anisimova said she was “frozen with nerves”.

“Thank you to everyone who’s supported me since my first-round match here. It’s been an incredible fortnight for me even though I ran out of gas today and I wish I could have put on a better performance for you."  

‘I never really expected this one’

At the trophy presentation, Swiatek said it all seemed super surreal. “First of all I want to congratulate Amanda for an amazing two weeks no matter what happened today. I hope we’re going to play many more finals here and at other tournaments.

“I didn’t even dream (about winning Wimbledon) because it was way too far, I feel like I’m already an experienced player after winning the slams before but I never really expected this one.”

Swiatek’s win means she is now the youngest woman since the 20-year-old Serena Williams in 2002 to lift major titles on all three surfaces. She is also the first player since Monica Seles in 1992 to win her first six major finals.

OFM Sport/Ilse Smalberger dg