LONDON (AP) — Amanda Anisimova kept apologizing to the spectators at Centre Court — for her performance in a 6-0, 6-0 loss to Iga Swiatek in the Wimbledon final and for the emotions that made it hard to deliver a speech afterward.
Through it all, Anisimova, a 23-year-old American in her first major title match, made sure to thank her mother for making a rare trip to watch her daughter play in person.
“My mom is the most selfless person I know, and she’s done everything to get me to this point in my life,” said Anisimova, whose father died in 2019 when she was 17.
Then, turning to address her mother, Anisimova continued as her eyes welled with tears: “So thank you for being here and breaking the superstition of flying in.”
And then in a tongue-in-cheek reference to her 57-minute defeat, Anisimova said with a laugh, “It's definitely not why I lost today.”
“I'm so happy that I get to share this moment and for you to be here and witness this in person. I know you don’t get to see me live, playing, that much anymore, because you do so much for my sister and I, and you always have,” Anisimova said. “I love you so much.”
Just participating in a Grand Slam final — after eliminating No. 1-ranked Aryna Sabalenka in the semifinals, to boot — represented quite a success for Anisimova, a 23-year-old who was born in New Jersey and grew up in Florida from age 3.
She was a top player in her teens, beating Coco Gauff in the 2017 U.S. Open junior final, and quickly made a mark as a professional by reaching the French Open quarterfinals two years later.
In May 2023, she announced she was taking a mental health break from the tour because of burnout.
Anisimova returned to action in 2024, but her ranking of 189th just 12 months ago was too low to get into the field automatically at an event like Wimbledon, so she unsuccessfully attempted to qualify for the tournament.
“No matter what happened today,” Swiatek told her, “you should be proud of the work you’re doing.”
On Saturday, she became just the second woman in the Open era, which began in 1968, to get to a Grand Slam final a year after losing in qualifying. And now she will break into the top 10 for the first time.
After the match, she told her team she appreciates them for “just taking care of me” during “the whole journey it's been, this whole past year.”
“I know I didn’t have enough today, but I’m going to keep putting in the work,” Anisimova said. “And I always believe in myself, so I hope to be back here one day.”
AP tennis: https://apnews.com/hub/tennis
Poland's Iga Swiatek, left, celebrates with the trophy after beating Amanda Anisimova of the U.S., right, to win the women's singles final at the Wimbledon Tennis Championships in London, Saturday, July 12, 2025. (AP Photo/Kin Cheung)
Amanda Anisimova of the U.S. reacts after losing the women's singles final match against Iga Swiatek of Poland at the Wimbledon Tennis Championships in London, Saturday, July 12, 2025.(AP Photo/Kirsty Wigglesworth)
Amanda Anisimova of the U.S. reacts after losing the women's singles final match against Iga Swiatek of Poland at the Wimbledon Tennis Championships in London, Saturday, July 12, 2025.(AP Photo/Kirsty Wigglesworth)
ALEPPO, Syria (AP) — First responders on Sunday entered a contested neighborhood in Syria’ s northern city of Aleppo after days of deadly clashes between government forces and Kurdish-led forces. Syrian state media said the military was deployed in large numbers.
The clashes broke out Tuesday in the predominantly Kurdish neighborhoods of Sheikh Maqsoud, Achrafieh and Bani Zaid after the government and the Syrian Democratic Forces, the main Kurdish-led force in the country, failed to make progress on how to merge the SDF into the national army. Security forces captured Achrafieh and Bani Zaid.
The fighting between the two sides was the most intense since the fall of then-President Bashar Assad to insurgents in December 2024. At least 23 people were killed in five days of clashes and more than 140,000 were displaced amid shelling and drone strikes.
The U.S.-backed SDF, which have played a key role in combating the Islamic State group in large swaths of eastern Syria, are the largest force yet to be absorbed into Syria's national army. Some of the factions that make up the army, however, were previously Turkish-backed insurgent groups that have a long history of clashing with Kurdish forces.
The Kurdish fighters have now evacuated from the Sheikh Maqsoud neighborhood to northeastern Syria, which is under the control of the SDF. However, they said in a statement they will continue to fight now that the wounded and civilians have been evacuated, in what they called a “partial ceasefire.”
The neighborhood appeared calm Sunday. The United Nations said it was trying to dispatch more convoys to the neighborhoods with food, fuel, blankets and other urgent supplies.
Government security forces brought journalists to tour the devastated area, showing them the damaged Khalid al-Fajer Hospital and a military position belonging to the SDF’s security forces that government forces had targeted.
The SDF statement accused the government of targeting the hospital “dozens of times” before patients were evacuated. Damascus accused the Kurdish-led group of using the hospital and other civilian facilities as military positions.
On one street, Syrian Red Crescent first responders spoke to a resident surrounded by charred cars and badly damaged residential buildings.
Some residents told The Associated Press that SDF forces did not allow their cars through checkpoints to leave.
“We lived a night of horror. I still cannot believe that I am right here standing on my own two feet,” said Ahmad Shaikho. “So far the situation has been calm. There hasn’t been any gunfire.”
Syrian Civil Defense first responders have been disarming improvised mines that they say were left by the Kurdish forces as booby traps.
Residents who fled are not being allowed back into the neighborhood until all the mines are cleared. Some were reminded of the displacement during Syria’s long civil war.
“I want to go back to my home, I beg you,” said Hoda Alnasiri.
Associated Press journalist Kareem Chehayeb in Beirut contributed to this report.
Sandbag barriers used as fighting positions by Kurdish fighters, left inside a destroyed mosque in the Sheikh Maqsoud neighborhood, where clashes between government forces and Kurdish fighters have been taking place in the northern city of Aleppo, Syria, Sunday, Jan. 11, 2026. (AP Photo/Ghaith Alsayed)
Burned vehicles at one of the Kurdish fighters positions at the Sheikh Maqsoud neighborhood, where clashes between government forces and Kurdish fighters have been taking place in the northern city of Aleppo, Syria, Sunday, Jan. 11, 2026. (AP Photo/Ghaith Alsayed)
People flee the Sheikh Maqsoud neighborhood, where clashes between government forces and Kurdish fighters have been taking place in the northern city of Aleppo, Syria, Sunday, Jan. 11, 2026. (AP Photo/Ghaith Alsayed)
A Syrian military police convoy enters the Sheikh Maqsoud neighborhood, where clashes between government forces and Kurdish fighters have been taking place in the northern city of Aleppo, Syria, Sunday, Jan. 11, 2026. (AP Photo/Ghaith Alsayed)
Burned vehicles and ammunitions left at one of the Kurdish fighters positions at the Sheikh Maqsoud neighborhood, where clashes between government forces and Kurdish fighters have been taking place in the northern city of Aleppo, Syria, Sunday, Jan. 11, 2026. (AP Photo/Ghaith Alsayed)
