Angelina KALININA: “It was the longest match in my career”

Ukraine’s second racket Angelina Kalinina (WTA 47) reached the semi-finals of the WTA 1000 series clay tournament held in Rome, Italy.

In a tense quarter-final, the Ukrainian won against Beatriz Haddad Mayi (Brazil), the 15th racket of the world.

The match lasted 3 hours 41 minutes and ended with three sets. The match was the longest of the WTA season.

After the match, Angelina Kalinina commented on her hardest win as follows:

“I feel great, but I don’t feel my body or my legs. I think it was the longest game of my career. Thanks to my coach. Also thanks to the fitness coach because this victory is not just mine. My share is 50 percent and 50 percent is my fitness coach.

I got off to a really good start and I think it turned into a negative as I relaxed a bit. Beatriz started playing really well, she played very aggressively and I stopped after 5:2. I started aggressively but then I started losing the game. I’m sorry, but it won’t work if you start pushing the ball.

It sounds so ordinary – fight, fight. It was about fighting spirit today, because when you lose 0-3 it’s hard to be sure and still believe that you’re going to win this ball. It’s not about winning the set because if you think about it that way, it’s very difficult to go from 3-0 to 6-3.”

Kalinina will play with the 12th racket Veronika Kudermetova, who played without a flag in the semi-finals.