Ukrainian tennis player defeats Russian at prestigious tournament in Rome

Ukraine's second ranked player Angelina Kalinina (WTA No. 47) started the tournament with a confident victory at the WTA 1000 in Italy. The 26-year-old native of Nova Kakhovka missed the first round, and in the second, she defeated Anna Blinkova from Moscow (WTA No. 73) in two sets.

The match lasted 85 minutes and ended in favour of our compatriot with a score of 6-2, 6-2. During this time, Angelina made 7 aces, making only one double fault.

It was Kalinina's second straight victory in a head-to-head confrontation with Blinkova. Prior to that, the Ukrainian had lost five times in a row to the Muscovite, but in December 2022, she broke the streak at the WTA 125 tournament in Limoges.

Her success against the Russian was Kalinina's first victory in five matches. She previously won two months ago in the first round of the WTA 1000 in Indian Wells.

The next opponent of the Ukrainian tennis player in the third round of the tournament in Rome will be the winner of the pair Sophia Kenin (USA, SR) - Arina Sobolenko (2).

As OBOZREVATEL previously reported, world No. 2 Arina Sobolenko gave a lengthy interview to the US media, where she said she was not worried about the war in Ukraine, noting that "we are just athletes".

Only verified information is available in our Obozrevatel Telegram channel and Viber. Do not fall for fakes!