World No.40 Anna Kalinskaya staged a remarkable 6-4 6-4 upset over top seed Iga Swiatek in the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships semifinals and booked her place in Saturday’s title match against Jasmine Paolini.
The 25-year-old Kalinskaya reached her first Hologic WTA Tour-level singles final, making history as the tournament’s first qualifier to go that deep in the draw. Moreover, the Russian is the sixth-lowest ranked player to go this far at this prestigious event in the United Arab Emirates.