Abu Dhabi
Qualifier Kalinskaya catches Iga out
Qualifier Anna Kalinskaya handed Iga Swiatek only her second defeat of the season as the No. 40 stunned the top seed 6-4, 6-4 to reach the final of the WTA Dubai event on Friday.
The upset shock in one and three-quarter hours put the 25-year-old into the Saturday title match – the first of her career at the Tour level – against Jasmine Paolini, who knocked out Sorana Cirstea 6-2, 7-6 (6).
The win was her third over a Grand Slam champion here after defeating 2017 Roland Garros winner Jelena Ostapenko and reigning US Open holder Coco Gauff.
Swiatek had an eight-match win streak on the go after winning last week’s Abu Dhabi trophy for the third straight edition; the 22-year-old Pole now stands 14-2 this season.
The challenger becomes only the second woman after Caroline Garcia (2022 Cincinnati champion) to reach a 1000-level final.
Kalinskaya swept 10 of the last 14 games as Swiatek struggled to fight back from a set and 5-2 down. The seed lost a break in the first set, dropping her serve twice in a row to lose the opener.
Swiatek saved two match points in the eighth game while fighting to earn 3-5 in the second set; but Kalinskaya overcame another pair of break points in the concluding game and served out victory in her third chance.
It’s a bit surprising, for sure. I wasn’t feeling very well before the tournament,” the winner said.
“I had to play qualies. I stayed in the moment just match by match.
“I’m super happy to be in the final. I can’t believe it yet. But tomorrow is just another day. I’m looking forward to playing my first big final.”
The outsider said she played on instinct: “In the beginning of the second set I didn’t think too much. I just had to play point by point.
“I had to stay calm and just follow the plan that I had in my mind. I had to stayaggressive and keep moving her.
“I was not lucky – I deserved it.
“I was up 5-2. I had two match points. Unfortunately it didn’t go as I wish it could. I had to reset and start playing point by point.
“When I finished the match, I didn’t feel like it was over because I was still mentally ready to play, I was just very focused.”
Belinda Bencic held nine-month-old daughter Bella in one arm and the WTA Abu Dhabi trophy in the other after claiming the title on Saturday in a 4-6, 6-2, 6-1 fightback finals win over Ashlyn Krueger.
The Swiss who won Olympic gold in Tokyo had only returned to the Tour last autumn; she backed up her trophy here from 2023, the year before she left the circuit for a pregnancy pause.
Bencic worked for nearly two and a half hours to secure victory in only her fourth event since returning to tennis; she reached the Australian Open fourth round last month in a show of strength and an indication of possible things to come.
She is the first mother to claim a singles title since Elina Svitolina in Strasbourg, May, 2023.
Bencic now owns nine WTA trophies and stands a flawless 9-0 at the Gulf venue.
The 27-year-old Swiss will shoot up the rankings from 157th to around 65th. She will miss next week’s tournament in Doha but will reappear in the final tournament of the February Gulf swing in Dubai from February 17.
She won that prestigious UAE event in 2019.
Main photo:- Belinda Bencic and daughter Bella with Abu Dhabi Trophy – by WTATennis.com
Last month’s breakthrough Grand Slam title at the Australian Open has turned into a curse for Madison Keys after the January title winner withdrew from her third straight post-Melbourne tournament.
The 29-year-old American was riding the wave at Melbourne Park after upsetting world No. 1 Aryna Sabalenka with a three-set win in the final just over 10 days ago.
But the newly-hyped seventh-ranked Keys was then forced to withdraw from the WTA minor event in Austin under a rule which allowed only one already entered top 10 player (Jessica Pegula) in the field at that event level.
Keys accepted her fate but was then forced out of this week’s 500 event in Abu Dhabi by the hamstring injury which has forced her to pull from the 1000-level Dubai tournament starting February 17 in the emirate.
Keys will be hoping for fitness in time to play the American 1000 pair in Indian Wells and Miami next month.
Emma Raducanu exited in the first round of successive tournaments at the Abu Dhabi Open today following her loss in Singapore Open.
World No. 56 Raducanu was unable to capitalise on being promoted to the main draw rather than having to qualify for the first time since her fairytale run from qualifying in the 2021 US Open to winning the final, losing 3-6,4-6 to former Wimbledon Champion Marketa Vondrousova
The Brit started well against Vondrousova, leading 3-1 after an early break of serve, but then lost five consecutive games and the first set.
The Czech who had returned from a six-month break in January following shoulder surgery, saved four break points early in the second set before breaking for a 5-3 lead and served out for the match, taking her third match point.
She will play fourth seed Yulia Putintseva from Kazakhstan in the next round.
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