Anna Kalinskaya Exits in Berlin: What Happened in Her Match Against Elina Svitolina
Anna Kalinskaya is going through a difficult stretch in her career. Facing the formidable Ukrainian Elina Svitolina in the round of 16 at the WTA 500 tournament in Berlin, the tennis player—also known for her past relationship with Jannik Sinner—was forced to withdraw due to a physical issue. The setback occurred less than three-quarters of an hour into the match, with her opponent already leading 6-1, 4-1.
Kalinskaya had already appeared to be making quite a few errors in the first set, in addition to looking sluggish in her movements. After losing six consecutive games to Svitolina, she headed to the bench to request the physical therapist’s assistance during the fifth game of the second set. During the medical timeout, she remained seated while her staff assessed her condition. She ultimately left the Berlin tournament without undergoing any manipulation or bandaging of her muscles or joints. This rules out the possibility of an injury; the possibility of an internal ailment or severe fatigue remains to be determined.
This isn’t the first time Svitolina has proven to be an insurmountable obstacle for the Russian. In the past, the Ukrainian had already gotten the better of Kalinskaya in key matches, such as in the first round of the WTA 1000 in Dubai, where she won decisively 6-1, 6-2, costing the Russian player a massive loss of ranking points.
The problem is that the Berlin match is part of a broader pattern of physical difficulties and poor results that has plagued Kalinskaya for some time now. Between injuries, withdrawals, and first-round losses, the player has accumulated a string of poor results that have gradually eroded her position in the WTA rankings, pushing her significantly further away from the very top of the world rankings.
Yet Kalinskaya’s potential is beyond question. In the 2024 season, she had an extraordinary year, reaching her career-high ranking of 11th and making her first career finals on the major tour: one at the WTA 1000 in Dubai, which she lost to Iga Swiatek, and the one at the WTA 500 in Berlin, where she was defeated by Jessica Pegula. These results also earned her a nomination for the Most Improved Player of the Year award.
That golden season now seems a distant memory. The hope, for her and her fans, is that the physical issues that continue to affect her can finally be resolved once and for all, allowing her to regain the consistency in performance that had propelled her into the ranks of the women’s tour’s top players in 2024.
