Top seed Aryna Sabalenka reacts to surprise Wimbledon exit

The World No.1 lost to Anisimova 2-6, 5-7, 4-6, missing out on the chance of her first Wimbledon final in one of the surprises of the tournament.

It is the latest disappointment of a tough year for the Belarusian that has seen her lose in both the Australian and French Open finals. However, while her exit in Paris was notable for what she said afterwards, she opted to be more restrained this time round.

"Are you guys waiting for something? You're not going to see Roland Garros press conference, so anyone who was waiting for that, you can leave right now," Sabalenka said with a smile during her post-match press conference.

"I mean, losing sucks, you know? You always feel like you want to die, you don't want to exist anymore, and this is the end of your life.

"But then you sit there a little bit, and you think about what you could have done differently on the match. I mean, you see stuff where you wasn't at your best in the match.

"You see that the other player perform much better. You kind of, like, can see things better.

"But the first moment always the worst one because every time you compete at that tournament, and you get to the last stages, you think that you're getting close to your dream. Then you lose the match, and you feel like, okay, this is the end."

Despite her insistence on keeping it cool, Sabalenka did admit Anisimova "pissed" her off when she celebrated a point before the ball was dead.

"I was just trying to chase the ball. Yeah, she was already celebrating it. I was, like, I mean, that's a bit too early. Then she kind of pissed me off saying that, oh, that's what she does all the time.

"I was grateful that she actually said that because I was, like, it's actually help me to keep fighting. I'm like, okay, now I'm going to show you the tennis. So I came back because I got really angry in that moment.

"So probably in the third set I should have, like, remembered, and you know, probably will help. It is what it is."

The match was Anisimova's fifth win over Sabalenka in their eight games together. Asked why the American had such a strong record, Sabalenka said grass courts made it hard to nullify Anisimova's strengths.

"I mean, she's an aggressive player. I think all of the matches we played, they all been, like, really tight and close. I know what I have to do against her, but I have to say the grass doesn't really help to do things that are going to destroy her game.

"But yeah, I think all the matches is close. Doesn't matter, she leads, what, 5-3, 6-3 now? For me, it's nothing, to be honest, because they were all close.

"Going into the match against her, I don't think, Oh, my God, she has a good record. Record is nothing. I've been winning matches against her.

"She was winning matches. It's all about the momentum. If you're there, if you're fighting, and if you're doing the right thing."