Kalinskaya made it through the qualifying rounds, defeating Rebeka Masarova and Kamila Rakhimova. She then defeated Storm Hunter, Kristina Buksha and Jelena Ostapenko over the next three rounds. She bounced back from a set down to defeat Coco Gauff 2-6, 6-4, 6-2 in the quarterfinals.
In the semifinals, Kalinskaya met world number one Iga Swiatek. In the first set, the Russian was down 2-4, but then she won four games in a row and took the set.
Kalinska broke Szwiatek’s serve twice in the second set and led 5-2. Anna failed to finish the match the first time, but the 25-year-old did so on her second try with a score of 6-4, 6-4.
Paolini made her comeback by defeating Beatrice Addad Maia 4-6, 6-4, 6-0 in the first round. She then eliminated Leila Fernandez and Maria Sakkari, and Elena Rybakina advanced without a fight to the quarterfinals, with the Kazakh tennis player withdrawing from the match.
Paolini then faced Sorana Cirstei in the semi-final. The Italian did not encounter any resistance from her opponent in the first set. Paolini then led twice with a break in the second set, but could not maintain the lead. She even had match points on Kirsty’s serve at 5-4, but they were not recovered. Then the Romanian failed to serve during the set with the score 6-5. Kirstea served during the set and got 5 set points, but Paolini fought them all off and went on to win the tiebreaker – 6-2, 7-6(6).
In personal meetings, Kalinskaya and Paolini have a score of 1-1. Kalinskaya won her last meeting at the 2024 Australian Open in straight sets.
Forecast for the match Anna Kalinskaya – Jasmine Paolini
Both players reached the biggest final of their careers, and for Kalinskaya it was also her first singles final at the WTA level. She only lost one set this week, against Gauff in the semi-final. This is even more impressive when you consider that she also competed in the qualifying rounds.
As an underdog in the match against Swiatek, Kalinskaya played an excellent match. It was his third straight victory against a top 10 player this week.
Kalinskaya has already beaten Paolini this season, she is playing the best tennis of her career and should win her first title.
Forecast: Anna Kalinskaya will win in straight sets.
Source: Sport
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