Dubai (Etihad)
The Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships witnessed the success of Anna Kalinskaya in winning a wonderful victory over Coco Gauff, ranked third in the world, and coming back after falling behind in the first set to overcome her opponent 2-6, 6-4, 6-2, to face Iga Szviontek, ranked first in the world, In the semi-finals.
Anna Kalinskaya, who became the fourth qualifier to reach the semi-finals in Dubai, said: It was a difficult match, and I felt a little nervous at the beginning of the match, because I was not used to the field. I participated in many matches during the qualifiers, but I did not play on the main court, and I also felt that the speed of the bounce was somewhat different, which made the shots more difficult.
In the second set, I calmed down a little and focused on all the points until the end of the match. The competition was intense until the last point because Gauff was able to block many of the balls she shot, so I had to be patient and make the right decisions in choosing my shots to win points.
Anna Kalinskaya will face her opponent, Iga Szvyontek, winner of four Grand Slam tournaments, who defeated Chenwen Zheng. The two players have previously met in doubles competitions, as Szviontek then performed outstandingly against Anna.
Szwiontek, 22, won the championship title in Doha, and strengthened her unbeaten record in tournaments held in the Middle East this year by defeating Cheng. The 6-3, 6-2 win contributed to the Polish player maintaining a 100% win rate in the tournament. Her confrontations are against Cheng, who reached the final of the Australian Open last month, where she won all five of her confrontations with Cheng, the last of which was in the Tennis Federation Cup in Perth.
Shevuntek succeeded once again in achieving a deserved victory over her Chinese counterpart Cheng at the Dubai Tennis Court, where she did not allow her to break her serve throughout the match, and saved three opportunities to break her serve.
Shevuntek expanded her series of victories to 7 victories in the tournaments held in the Arabian Gulf region during the current year, and said: I have the necessary competence that enables me to perform outstandingly even in important moments, which witness high levels of pressure, especially since it is related to the decision-making process. I deal with these strikes like all other strikes in the match. This strategy contributes to relieving psychological pressure and giving me the ability to focus and play with greater freedom.
Despite all the expectations that preceded the start of the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championship, which will witness the participation of 17 of the best 20 players in the world, Szwontec is the only qualifier to the semi-finals who is ranked among the best 22 players in the world.
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