Anhelina Kalinina overcomes Veronika Kudermetova, to face Elena Rybakina in Italian Open final

Anhelina Kalinina became the lowest-ranked player to reach the Italian Open final since 1986 with a 7-5 5-7 6-2 win over Veronika Kudermetova in Rome. She will face Elena Rybakina in the final after the Wimbledon champion got the better of Jelena Ostapenko 6-2 6-4 in the other semi-final. Ad The Ukrainian Kalinina powered past the 11th seed in two hours and 50 minutes in an intense battle to collect her second top-20 victory in a row (she beate Beatriz Haddad Maia in the previous round) — and only her fifth on clay.

Australian OpenKrejcikova to face Pegula in last 16 after both win in straight sets20/01/2023 AT 00:01 Both players needed a 12th game to secure their opening sets, Kalinina — seeded No. 30 — took the opener before the Russian drew level in a tightly-fought second set. Kalinina went four games in front in the decider before Kudermetova threatened a revival by winning two consecutive games, but it wasn’t to be as the 26-year-old continued her bid to win her first-ever WTA title.

“I can’t feel my legs!” Kalinina joked after the match. “There was so much tiredness in the last couple of days, three sets, three sets, three sets. “I’m happy to be able to go through.” Swiatek ‘positive’ she will be fit to defend French Open title 'This is your chance' — Wilander urges stars to step up with Nadal ruled out 'Paris will cry for the loss of its king' — Fans in Italy react to Nadal news She signed off with a heartfelt message to her home country, Ukraine.

“I just want to say that for me it’s also really important to win every match because, you know, with what Ukraine goes through. “I just want to say that I really hope that I give a tiny light, maybe positive emotions for my country. I really hope Ukraine enjoys this a