Anna Kalinskaya, Jannik Sinner’s girlfriend, this time said ‘niet’

Anna Kalinskaya’s no

Russian tennis player Anna Kalinskaya, currently ranked 12th in the world, has opted not to take part in the WTA-500 tournament in Tokyo: a not entirely unexpected decision by Jannik Sinner’s fiancée, who is fresh off a quarterfinal knockout at the tournament in Ningbo, China, with Czech Karolina Muchova.

Along with Anna, Belgium's Elise Mertens, world number 27, and Spain's Paula Badosa, currently 14th, also chose not to participate in the event. Badosa announced an early end to her season due to physical problems. This allowed three "lucky losers" to enter the tournament’s main draw.

Changes in the grid meant that Russian Diana Schneider would skip the first round due to her high ranking. In the second round, she could face the tournament’s defending champion Veronica Kudermetova.

Kalinskaya, despite the Chinese setback, is nevertheless enjoying her most brilliant season: for the first time she reached 12th position in the WTA rankings, her career best ranking, and came close to winning a tournament by reaching the finals in both Dubai and Berlin.