Kazakhstan’s Elena Rybakina (world no. 6) joined Ukraine’s Anhelina Kalinina in the Rome WTA 1000 final by beating Latvia’s Jelena Ostapenko (20th), 6-2, 6-4 in a half that was interrupted in the second set by the rain.
Rybakina, finalist of the Australian Open in January, will play his third final in the WTA 1000 (category below the Grand Slams) of the year on Saturday, after Indian Wells (victory against Sabalenka) and Miami (defeat against Kvitova) .
Qualified for the semi-finals by taking advantage of the abandonment in the quarter, through injury, of the double defending champion and ultra-favorite Iga Switek, Rybakina was the most skilful to pass between the drops.
After an easily pocketed first set, the winner of the last Wimbledon got off to a bad start in the second, trailing 3-0 then 4-1. But the arrival of the rain was beneficial for her, further disturbing her opponent, hampered by slippery lines.
The match was first interrupted for ten minutes, at 4-2, the time for the players to briefly go through the locker room. He briefly regained the time by four points, allowing Rybakina to afford two break points at 40-15. But Ostapenko then refused to continue, not at ease, and the two players returned for good only to return 45 minutes later.
This break finished cutting the legs of the Latvian who lost her serve then the next three games to bow in 1:35.
Ukrainian Kalinina overcomes Russian Kudermetova
Ukrainian Anhelina Kalinina, 47th player in the world, overcame Russian Veronika Kudermetova (12th) 7-5, 5-7, 6-2, Friday in Rome and climbed for the first time in the final of a tournament WTA1000.
Kalinina, 26, whose best performance is a lost final in Budapest in 2021, will meet Kazakhstan’s Elena Rybakina (world no. 6) or Latvia’s Jelena Ostapenko (20th) on Saturday, opposed in the other semi-final, to try to succeed on the Roman record to Iga Swiatek, who gave up on injury in the quarters.
The Ukrainian hoped with this victory to bring “positive emotions” to her compatriots, at the end of a particular match in view of the war in her country.
Kudermetova, already an ill-fated semi-finalist in Madrid two weeks ago, relied on her punching power to try and run the Ukrainian a lot, coming out of a 3:41 marathon match in the quarter-finals.
But Kalinina showed no weakness, apart from a slump at the end of the second round, to respond, with less force but much more accuracy and variety in her shots.
The Ukrainian struggled early in the match to save her face-offs, saving three break points against her at 1-2 then five more at 2-3 to finally keep her service games. What puzzled the Russian who then lost confidence and dropped his own service in stride to be trailed 5-3.
Kudermetova found the resources to come back at 5-5 but gave up her serve again due to some gross faults and let the first set slip away.
Faced with this Ukrainian sure of her game, the Russian got even more annoyed at the start of the second set, clenching her fists in rage or hitting the ground with her racket. And as in the first, she gave up her serve first in the fifth game (2-3) but still managed to come back at 5-5.
This time she took advantage of a slack from her opponent to return to one set everywhere, concluding the set thanks to four shutouts.
After a stint in the locker room to regain her composure, Kalinina slowed down the bleeding at the start of the third set and took over the lead from the start of the third set with two breaks that allowed her to lead 4-0. While the rain was back on the Foro Italico, it did not falter and finished in 2h50.
2023-05-19 20:44:00
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