Anna Kalinskaya, the world No. 24 from Russia, shared her reaction to Romanian Sorana Cirstea’s victory over Belarusian Aryna Sabalenka (2:6, 6:3, 7:5) at the WTA-1000 tournament in Rome, Italy.
“Did you get a chance to congratulate Sorana on beating Sabalenka? And how did you react to that result?”
“Yes, I saw her in the locker room after the match, and I’m really happy for her. It’s such a special win, even though I also have a very good relationship with Aryna. But for Sorana, this is the first time in her life, I think, that she has beaten her. I’m not sure exactly how many times they’ve played.”
“This is actually the first win of her career against a world No. 1.”
“Yes, I’m incredibly happy for her. It was quite unexpected that she won. We talk a lot, and I know how hard she trains and how much she tries, so I’m truly very happy for her.”
“Did you think about trying to talk her out of retiring after this season? She was planning to. Like, why would you stop? Keep going.”
“I think now is not the best time to talk about that, but I’ll ask her about it,” Kalinskaya told Championat correspondent Daniil Salnikov.
