Tennis star shuts down season after being bagelled at China Open
A tennis star has ended her season prematurely after a tough few months.
Anhelina Kalinina has ended her season prematurely after being bagelled at the China Open. The Ukrainian says she has struggled with health issues and has decided to begin a longer break ahead of 2025.
Kalinina was comfortably defeated by qualifier Rebecca Sramkova in Beijing on Wednesday. After a tight first set, which ended 6-4, Sramkova stormed through the second without dropping a game.
Having suffered the disappointing defeat, Kalinina has decided to call time on her season prematurely. She says health issues have convinced her to temporarily step away from playing.
The Ukrainian player shared a photo to her Instagram story in which she is eating in a Beijing restaurant. She wrote: “Due to my health issues, this season is over for me. Thanks to everyone for your continuous support.”
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Kalinina, who is ranked 51st in the WTA leaderboard, started the year well and defeated Emma Raducanu at the Qatar Open in February. She then secured a fantastic victory over Aryna Sabalenka in Miami a month later.
However, her results since have been mixed. The 27-year-old was knocked out in the first rounds of both the French Open and Wimbledon. She then suffered a second-round defeat against fellow Ukrainian Elina Svitolina at the US Open.
Kalinina was also forced to pull out of the Olympics with a cold. She revealed that she suspected the symptoms were caused by waiting on the courts before the competition started.
“Unfortunately, we spent a long time on the courts yesterday waiting for the competition to start. It was raining all this time and this morning I felt a sore throat,” Kalinina wrote in a statement.
“I was very upset, because it was a big dream and honour for me to play at the Olympics and represent my country, especially in such a difficult time."
Meanwhile, Sramkova has embarked on a remarkable China Open run inclusive of her victory over Kalinina. The world No. 61 came through two qualifying rounds before soaring through first and second-round matches, including beating world No. 27 Ekaterina Alexandrova.
She faces Paula Badosa in the third round tomorrow. The likes of Sabalenka, Donna Vekic and Mirra Andreeva are also all through in the women’s draw after winning matches on Saturday.
However, Wimbledon champion Barbora Krejcikova suffered a shock defeat against the world No. 69 Jaqueline Cristian. The Romanian recovered from a 1-6 first-set loss to win 1-6 6-4 7-5.
