On Sunday, May 12, the matches of the third women’s individual round of the Rome supertournament ended. Initially there were 11 Russians in the draw, but only one of them made it to the round of 16: Anna Kalinskaya, seeded 23rd. Her opponent was former third-stringer and now world number 19, Elina Svitolina. In the second round, both Kalinskaya and Svitolina destroyed their competitors. In the match with Clara Tauson, the Russian gave up only three games (6-1, 6-2), and the Ukrainian pinned Sarah Errani 6-0, 6-2.
Related materials
Kalinskaya reached the third round in Rome. And Kotov lost to the American with a scandal.
Kalinskaya entered the main draw of the “thousand” in the capital of Italy for the second time. A year ago, she stopped here in the third round, getting injured in the middle of the first set of the game with Elena Rybakina. Svitolina’s track record is much more impressive. Elina, who had never played with Anna before, won this tournament twice. It is true that this was a long time ago, in 2017 and 2018, that is, long before the Ukrainian woman and her husband, the famous French tennis player Gael Monfils, became parents.
Svitolina said that she is currently not in the best physical shape. An athlete feels pain in her leg. “I struggle with this every day. Maybe not 10 out of 10, but two or three points. Sometimes more, depending on the games and the intensity of the training.
I hope to improve my health through exercise and treatment to become stronger. I hope that in the future you will be free of these pains. It’s hard for me not to play, to take a longer break in my career. I think a lot of players feel that way,” Tennis.com said.
Related materials
“Maybe there was a virus in Madrid.” Rublev took the title with fever, Sabalenka was in bed for 4 days
The health problems that Svitolina spoke about did not prevent her from immediately taking the initiative. Almost everything went well for the Ukrainian, but Kalinskaya, on the other hand, made too many mistakes. In the first three games, the Russian won only three rallies, losing her serve to love. Anna couldn’t catch the break and save the game. She held her serve with confidence, but that wasn’t enough. In the eighth game, however, Elina, while she was at the reception, sprained her leg and fell to the ground, but she immediately got up and showed that everything was fine.
Elina Svitolina fell in a match with Anna Kalinskaya at the WTA-1000 tournament in Rome 2024
Photo: Mike Hewitt/Getty Images
And in the ninth game, Svitolina served to win the set: 6-3 in just 31 minutes. Kalinskaya only scored three actively earned points throughout the match. However, her rival didn’t have many either, eight.
Kalinskaya also started the second game unsuccessfully. The Russian lost her serve on the third break point, after which Svitolina confirmed her lead without problems at 2:0. But then Anna took her game and finally achieved a break after Elina, with her errors, gave her opponent a triple break point from which she could not escape. Thus the score was equaled 2:2.
Unfortunately, this was not a turning point. The fifth game was the most interesting of the entire match. Both tennis players made great combinations and Svitolina delivered the decisive blow. On the third break point, the Ukrainian attacked well, entering the middle of the court and hitting a short shot that landed just below the net, on the opposite side of the court, of course. In this meeting there was no longer a hint of a break on Kalinskaya’s part. And in the ninth game, Anna lost her technique again, and with it the match, winning only one move: 6:3, 6:3 in favor of Elina in 1 hour 14 minutes.
Thus, the last Russian tennis player left the “thousandth” draw in Rome. Svitolina reached the fourth round. There she will play against two-time Australian Open champion Aryna Sabalenka, who in her third round match beat Ukrainian Dayana Yastremska (32nd) 6:4, 6:2.
The Rome supertournament will end on May 19. Follow all the events of the “Championship”.
