“Stay calm and aggressive,” Anna Kalinskaya delivers a ‘classy’ speech after taking down World No. 1 Iga Swiatek in Dubai

Anna Kalinskaya defeated Iga Swiatek 6-4, 6-4 in the semifinal match.

“Stay calm and aggressive,” Anna Kalinskaya delivers a ‘classy’ speech after taking down World No. 1 Iga Swiatek in Dubai

Anna Kalinskaya (Source: IMAGO)

Anna Kalinskaya is currently experiencing a dream run in her career. She reached her first-ever WTA 1000 final in the Dubai Open by defeating Iga Swiatek last night. And now she might even end up winning her first-ever WTA 1000 trophy on Saturday as she faces Italy’s Jasmine Paolini in the final. 

The Russian has been an absolute giant killer in the tournament, defeating the likes of Jelena Ostapenko, Coco Gauff, and Iga Swiatek en route to the final. It is almost like she defeated the odds to be in the final and it is in her destiny to win this trophy. 

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In the quarterfinal, Kalinskaya defeated Gauff despite losing the first set. In the match against Swiatek, she made an even more commendable comeback. Kalinskaya was 4-2 down in the first set and upped her game from there, winning six straight sets. She was so good that Iga broke her racket out of frustration in the second set. 

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Kalinskaya said in her on-court interview that her plan from the very beginning was to stay calm and aggressive. She praised the Polish international and said that she could have destroyed her, had her strategy not worked. 

She’s a great player. I know if I don’t stay calm and aggressive, she’s gonna destroy me. That was my plan to stay aggressive. Move her a lot. I’m happy I won. She’s unbelievable. I’m happy I had the chance to play against her. I’m sure we’ll play a lot in the future. 

Anna Kalinskaya faces Jasmine Paolini in the final

Kalinskaya will face Italian Jasmine Paolini in the final of the 2024 Dubai Open. The two players have faced each other only two times and they have each won exactly one of those matches. They most recently met at the 2024 Australian Open and Kalinskaya emerged victorious in that faceoff. 

Anna Kalinskaya
Anna Kalinskaya (Source: IMAGO)

Unlike the Russian, Jasmine Paolini has not had to face many serious rivals in the 2024 Dubai Open. She defeated Leylah Fernandez and Maria Sakkari and was supposed to face Elena Rybakina but she ended up giving a walkover, following which she made it to the semifinal. In the final, Paolini defeated Sorana Cirstea to make it to the final. 

Kalinskaya is most definitely the favorite to win the Dubai Open, looking at the way she has performed so far in the tournament. Considering the fact that she has a rank of World No. 40, the Russian has shown a significant improvement in her performance.

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