Ukrainian Anhelina Kalinina hopes to have offered a “little light” to her country with her victory – the most prestigious of her career – against Russian Veronika Kudermetova on Friday in the semi-finals of the WTA 1000 tournament in Rome.
Kalinina will challenge Kazakhstan’s Elena Rybakina (world No.6) in the final on Saturday, who beat the rain in the evening to dominate Latvian Jelena Ostapenko (20th), 6-2, 6-4 in a match interrupted 45 minutes.
“It’s really important to win every game, because of what Ukraine is going through,” said the Ukrainian, 47th in the world, after dominating Kudermetova, 12th in the world, after a duel of almost three hours. (7-5, 5-7, 6-2).
“I really hope to give a very small light, perhaps positive emotions to my country,” added the one who refused to greet her Russian opponent after the match.
“We didn’t shake hands because this girl is from Russia. It’s no secret, it’s because this country is attacking Ukraine,” she explained an hour later at a press conference.
“Yes, it is sport, but there is also a bit of politics. It’s nothing personal, but generally speaking it’s not acceptable,” she added.
Kudermetova, questioned about her relations with the Ukrainian, refrained from engaging in the extra-sporting field: “We all love what we do here, no matter what country we come from. We are athletes and that’s it,” replied the Russian.
With this particular victory, acquired with legs of fire despite the 3h41 spent on the court in the quarter-finals on Tuesday, Kalinina achieves, at 26, the best performance of her career by reaching the final of a WTA 1000 tournament, the category just below the Grand Slams.
“It’s their life now”
She also made sure to climb to 25th in the next WTA rankings, the best performance of her career (her best ranking so far was a 28th place last March).
Author of a very regular match, apart from a small slump which cost her the second set, the Ukrainian will have a lot to do in the final against Rybakina, the clear favorite to succeed Iga Swiatek, who gave up on injury in quarters.
The 23-year-old Kazakhstani, finalist at the Australian Open in January, will play her third WTA 1000 final of the year, after Indian Wells (victory against Sabalenka) and Miami (loss against Kvitova).
“It’s going to be hard,” admitted Kalinina, but she will be keen to conclude an “incredible” Roman journey on a high note, thinking of her family in Ukraine.
“My whole family is now in Kyiv. Near where they work – my mum and dad are tennis coaches – there was a huge bomb near the tennis courts. 300 meters away, there was an airport, there is no longer an airport. It’s their life now,” she said, very moved.
She also explained that her grandparents had recently had to leave Nova Kakhovka, near Kherson, after the occupation of their town by the Russian army: “They are very old, it was a very difficult decision for them , this is not the normal life”, she underlined.
To find the energy to string together marathon matches, the Ukrainian has insisted on the support of the Italian public since the start of the tournament. “I feel that support a lot, I’ve never experienced anything like this before. They bring so much energy even when I don’t have any more,” she said.
