Jan 18, 2024 at 5:55 AM Update: an hour ago
In the night from Wednesday to Thursday, Arantxa Rus failed to reach the third round of a Grand Slam tournament for the first time since 2012. The Dutch lost in the second round of the Australian Open to the Russian Anna Kalinskaya (6-1 and 7-5).
The 33-year-old Russian, who had an excellent year in 2023, had high hopes of finally reaching the last 32 at a Grand Slam tournament.
The last time that worked was in 2012 at Wimbledon. Twenty times in a row she was eliminated in the first or second round and in Melbourne this was the case for the 21st time.
The Westland native started her match against Kalinskaya, who is 75th in the world rankings, as a favorite. Russian is the global number 45 and was much too strong in the first round for the Ukrainian Anhelina Kalinina, who was seeded 24th in Melbourne: 6-1 and 6-0.
Rus was unable to continue that good match against Kalinskaya. Her opponent started the match much better on court 13.
The match between Arantxa Rus and Anna Kalinskaya was played on court 13. Photo: EPA
Kalinskaya dominates the party
Rus soon faced a 2-0 deficit, came back to 2-1, but had to leave the four subsequent games to Kalinskaya.
The second set initially had the same game pattern: Kalinskaya dominated the game with her hard blows and Rus was made to run. The Dutchwoman found it difficult to get out of the pressure and when she had the initiative herself, she was often sloppy.
Kalinskaya ran out to 4-1, but the Russian managed to come back to 4-3. The Russian served at 5-3 for the match and seemed to finish it convincingly. At 40-30 she hit a good first serve, after which she received a simple forehand. However, she wildly hit the ball wide and then made two more errors, allowing Rus to get back into the game. The score was 5-5 and Rus showed himself to be combative.
Two games later it was over, after Rus hit a forehand into the net. Kalinskaya qualified for the third round for the first time in her fifth participation in Melbourne. She had never won a match at the Australian Open before this year.
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Image: EPA
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TennisAustralian OpenArantxa Rus
2024-01-18 04:55:54
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