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[Q] Anna Kalinskaya -127- (RUS) def [11] Sloane Stephens -11- (USA)
Match recap from Arthur Ashe Stadium narrator Andy Taylor...
Understatement: Tuesday was a good night for 20-year-old Anna Kalinskaya. Not only did she win her first main draw match at a Grand Slam – she did it on the sport’s biggest stage, against a former US Open Champion.
And earlier this month she thought her Semifinal run in Washington D.C. was surreal…
Coached by Olympic Doubles Bronze Medalist Patricia Tarabini, Kalinskaya never once considered her opponent across the net. She worked her side of the court, focusing on the strengths Tarabini continues to cultivate. Encouragingly, those strengths were enough to take-down a top-15 player on one of the most imposing and intimidating courts in the game.
Side note: I have a Patricia Tarabini story. Yes, I still feel like a Class-A moron.
Meanwhile, for the first time since 2016, Sloane Stephens will get to enjoy Labor Day at the house.
NEXT: [WC] Kristie Ahn -152- (USA) vs [Q] Anna Kalinskaya -127- (RUS)
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Round-1 Biography | [Q] Anna Kalinskaya -127- (RUS)
Earlier this month at the US Open Series event in Washington D.C., she became the first qualifier in tournament history to reach the Semifinals – and by the end of the week, she climbed to career-high rankings in both Singles and Doubles. And it has been a remarkable season of firsts for this 20-year-old. In Prague, she won her debut WTA Tour-level title, teaming with Viktoria Kuzmova to claim the Doubles trophy. She then won her 7th ITF Women’s Circuit Singles title and qualified at Wimbledon for the first time. Now a 4-time Grand Slam Qualifier, tonight she is in pursuit of her first Grand Slam main-draw victory. Competing in the main-draw of the US Open for the 2nd year in-a-row, making her Arthur Ashe Stadium debut – from Russia, please welcome Anna Kalinskaya.
▲ R1: def [11] Sloane Stephens -11- (USA) 63 64
▲ Q3: def Asia Muhammad -288- (USA) 36 64 76(2)
▲ Q2: def Katrina Scott -1047- (USA) 63 63 (Katrina is 15-years-old)
▲ Q1: def Viktoriya Tomova -175- (BUL) 62 64
Round-1 Biography | [11] Sloane Stephens -11- (USA)
2-years-ago, unseeded and ranked outside the top-80, she captured her first Grand Slam Singles title right here in Arthur Ashe Stadium, defeating Venus Williams in the Semifinals and Madison Keys in the Championship match. Last year, she reached her second Major Final at Roland Garros, cracked the WTA’s top-5 for the first time and climbed to a career-high ranking of World #3. She’s a Fed Cup Champion, owns 6 WTA Singles titles – and last October, reached the championship match in her WTA Finals debut. Back in New York for her 8th US Open – From Plantation, Florida, please welcome 2017 Champion, Sloane Stephens.
Head to Head
This was the first meeting between these two players.
