(Rome) Ukraine’s Anhelina Kalinina beat Russia’s Veronika Kudermetova 7-5, 5-7, 6-2 to reach the Italian Open final on Friday.
Fans around Center Court backed Kalinina, whose family home was destroyed in last year’s Russian attacks. Some of them were holding Ukrainian flags.
“It’s very important to win every game because of what Ukraine has been through,” Kalinina told the crowd, dedicating her victory to her country. I really hope I have been able to give a little ray of light and some positive emotions to my country. I really hope Ukraine likes it a bit. »
Kalinina and Kudermetova did not shake hands following this semi-final, which lasted almost three hours.
It’s been quite a journey for Kalinina, ranked 47e in the world. She was coming back from the longest match on the WTA Tour this season, a win over Beatriz Haddad Maia after 3:41 of play.
Kalinina also eliminated former Australian Open champion Sofia Kenin and American Madison Keys.
In the final on Saturday, Kalinina will face defending Wimbledon champion Elena Rybakina or former French Open champion Jelena Ostapenko.
The Italian Open is the last big make-up tournament before the start of the French Open, which begins in nine days.
On the men’s side, the semi-finals will be held on Saturday. Holger Rune will face Casper Ruud while Stefanos Tsitsipas will cross swords with Daniil Medvedev.
Kalinina’s only other final was in Budapest in 2021, when she lost to Yulia Putintseva.
Twelfth racket in the world, Kudermetova also reached the semi-finals at the Madrid Open last week, and lost to Iga Swiatek.
Although Kudermetova used a more powerful serve, Kalinina was able to extend the points with her speed on the clay.
The Ukrainian also dictated the points by placing herself further inside the field than Kudermetova in order to find better angles of attack.
Still, Kudermetova won 16 straight points to erase a 5-3 second-set deficit and force a final set.
Kalinina, however, started the third set well by building a 4-0 lead, closing the books quickly before the rain set in.