Kalinskaya stuns Swiatek, to take on Paolini in final

Qualifier Anna Kalinskaya stunned World No.1 Iga Swiatek in Friday’s semi-finals of the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships, 6-4, 6-4, snapping the World No.1’s seven-match winning streak and advancing to her first Hologic WTA Tour-level singles final.The loss is just Swiatek’s second in her last 26 matches dating back to last September’s WTA 500 event in Tokyo. At World No.40, Kalinskaya, meanwhile, is the sixth-lowest ranked player to ever make the final in Dubai in its two-plus decade history, and is the first qualifier to reach the final at the tournament.She’ll face World No.26 Jasmine Paolini of Italy in the final today in an all-unseeded affair – the first all-unseeded final at WTA 1000 level since two former Top 10 players, Caroline Garcia and Petra Kvitova, duelled in the championship match in Cincinnati in 2022.Kalinskaya won 10 of the last 14 games to score the upset, as she came from a break down in the first set. Swiatek broke first to build a 4-2 lead in the opening set, at one point posting a remarkably clean 11-1 ratio of winners to unforced errors. But as Kalinskaya stayed solid from the baseline, Swiatek’s errors began to mount. Kalinskaya broke back immediately to get back on serve.Serving at 4-4, 30-all, Swiatek struck a backhand long and a forehand wide to hand Kalinskaya a second straight break and a chance to serve out the first set. Kalinskaya, who notched her first career Top 5 win one round earlier over Coco Gauff, was unphased by the chance to hand the Pole her first loss of a set in the tournament. On set point at 40-30, Swiatek misfired on another forehand and Kalinskaya completed her comeback to take the lead after 52 minutes.Swiatek’s consistency continued to waver in the second set, affording Kalinskaya the opportunity to break twice more, and lead 6-4, 5-2. She never faced a break point in the second set until she failed to serve out victory at that juncture – Swiatek saved two match points at 40-15 in the eighth game – but didn’t falter in the second attempt.Swiatek had an opportunity to break again for 5-5, but another forehand miss long denied the World No.1 to get back even.Earlier unseeded Paolini held off Sorana Cirstea 6-2, 7-6(6), saving six set points in the second set, to reach the first WTA 1000 final of her career in 1 hour and 57 minutes. "I gave you a little bit of drama at the end,” said Paolini with a laugh in her on-court interview afterwards. The Italian held her first match point at 5-4 in the second set, and saved four of the six set points she faced with clean forehand winners before converting her second match point in the tiebreak."I had a chance on 4-2, 40-15, but she was starting to play better, to hit winners. And me, maybe I stop a little bit move the legs. The last two matches I play against her, more or less was the same score. I won the first set, then the second set was a little bit complicated, then I won again the third set.”