“Are you crazy?” Jasmine Paolini reveals ‘unbelievable’ twist of fate recounting a bizarre conversation with Anna Kalinskaya’s coach before Dubai

Jasmine Paolini opens up about the bizarre conversation she had with Patricia Tarbini after winning the Dubai Tennis Championships.

“Are you crazy?” Jasmine Paolini reveals ‘unbelievable’ twist of fate recounting a bizarre conversation with Anna Kalinskaya’s coach before Dubai

Jasmine Paolini (image via: Imago)

Jasmine Paolini won her second WTA title at the Dubai Tennis Championships on Saturday. The match went down to the wire, with both underdog players giving it their all. Even though Paolini was going into the match as a favorite, Anna Kalinskaya had no prior match experience in the finals. 

Moreover, the Russian player beat two of the top seeds of the tournament, Iga Swiatek and Coco Gauff, en route to the finals. However, Paolini tackled this challenge after making a superb comeback despite being set down in the match.

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During the on-court interview, the Italian player had some kinds for her opponent and also about her coach. She opened up about the bizarre conversation she had with Anna Kalinskaya’s coach, Patricia Tarbini. 

Congrats to Anna. You played an unbelievable week from qualifying. You’re doing an amazing job with Patricia. One of the nicest coaches on tour. I’ll tell you something. Before the QF I met Patricia and she told me ‘We are gonna meet in the final.’ I was like ‘are you crazy?
The Italian said.

Notably, this was the third meetup between the two players on the WTA Tour. Both players had the better of the other prior to this match. 

Jasmine Paolini scripts an amazing comeback to win her second WTA title

Kalinskaya made an impressive start to the match, unsettling Kalinskaya with her fierce serves and forehands. Owing to this, the Russian player won the first set of the match. 

Jasmine Paolini
Jasmine Paolini (Image via IMAGO)

Even in the second set, Kalinskaya clinched an early lead. And it was for all money that Kalinskaya was winning the match. However, Paolini stepped up to break upon the Russian player numerous times as Kalinskaya bottled an early lead. This allowed the Italian to draw level with Kalinskaya in the match.

The deciding set too started off with a ferocious break from Kalinskaya, as she clinched an early advantage in the set as she raced to a 4-2 lead. She once again edged Paolini to a 5-3 dominance. 

However, Paolini made an unexpected comeback to level up to 5-5 in the third set after Kalinskaya hit the net. With double faults by the Russian player, Paolini got the opportunity for a championship point, and she converted it to finally bag the title.

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