Former world number 51 Kalinskaya finished the 2023 season strongly, reaching the WTA 125 finals in Tampico, Mexico, and Midland, United States. In the first case she lost the final, but in the second she won the trophy.
Kalinskaya entered the new season perfectly, as evidenced by her strong performance at the international tournament in Adelaide, where she reached the 1/8 finals, passing through the qualifying sieve. The 25-year-old Russian created another surprise at the Australian Open, achieving his best career Grand Slam result.
With wins over 26th-seeded Katie Volynets, Arancha Rus, Sloane Stephens and Jasmine Paolini, Kalinskaya reached the TBS quarterfinals for the first time. Of all the Russians, it was Anna who went the furthest, despite the fact that all the seeded Russian tennis players, on whom high hopes were pinned, were eliminated almost immediately.
China’s Zheng Qingwen had the best season of her career in 2023. Zheng won her first WTA titles in Palermo and Zhengzhou and finished second in the WTA Elite Trophy.
The 21-year-old also broke new ground at Grand Slam tournaments, reaching the quarterfinals of the US Open for the first time in history.
Zheng started 2024 with a loss to world No. 1 Iga Swiatek at the United Cup before defeating Olga Danilovic and Wimbledon champion Marketa Vondrousova.
The world number 15 reached the quarter-finals of the Australian Open for the first time with victories over Ashlyn Kruger, Katie Boulter, Yafan Wang and Ocean Dodin. The Chinese remains the only seed in the first half of the tournament draw and the main contender for the final.
Kalinskaya leads the confrontation against Qingwen with a score of 1-0. In the only meeting so far in Guadalajara in 2022, the Russian won with a score of 6-3, 2-6, 6-2.
Prediction for the match Anna Kalinskaya – Zheng Qingwen
Both players rely on solid serves, but the Chinese has a huge advantage in terms of aces: she already has 34 in four matches. At the same time, Zheng also committed 30 double faults.
Zheng had a high ranking and fairly simple support. On the way to the possible final, she will not meet any seeded team. She could have faced Jessica Pegula in the round of 16, but the American was eliminated in the second round. In the quarterfinals, Daria Kasatkina or Elena Rybakina could have played instead of Kalinskaya, but they also lost their matches in the second round. Interestingly, Kalinskaya herself only played in the 1/8 finals against top seed Jasmine Paolini and beat her quite easily in straight sets. Kalinska’s serve in Melbourne has been pretty good, with her first-throw percentage dropping below 70% in just one game. However, she needs to work more on her technique.
It is difficult to draw conclusions from past matches, because both tennis players did not have really strong opponents. Zheng appears favored, but she already had trouble in the third round with Wang Yafan, when she narrowly lost the championship tiebreaker. Kalinskaya surprised in matches with Stevens and Paolini, she is capable of defeating the Chinese, but the matter is unlikely to be limited to two sets. The fight in each of the three matches and the tie-breaks are very real.
Forecast: Kalinskaya will win in three sets.
Vyacheslav Gorbachev/Athletistic
Source: Sport
I’m Rose Brown , a journalist and writer with over 10 years of experience in the news industry. I specialize in covering tennis-related news for Athletistic, a leading sports media website. My writing is highly regarded for its quick turnaround and accuracy, as well as my ability to tell compelling stories about the sport.
