Anna Kalinskaya became emotional as soon as she walked out of the court following a painful US Open third-round exit as the 26-year-old was caught by the tunnel camera bursting into tears.
On Saturday evening, Kalinskaya made a lightning start against Iga Swiatek after opening a 5-1 lead. Just when it seemed that the first set was over, the No. 29 missed out on two consecutive set points on her serve in the eighth game, before failing to realize two additional in the same game. Two games later, the Russian failed to serve out for the set in her second attempt. After breaking the Pole in the 11th game, she got her third chance to close out the opener, but again it didn't happen.
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Kalinskaya paid the ultimate price for blowing four set points and three times failing to serve out for the first set as Swiatek stormed back to win 7-6 (2) 6-4.
Kalinskaya spotted with tears in the tunnel after her US Open exit
Meanwhile, Swiatek praised her rival by admitting that she put her in a really uncomfortable spot early on.
Oh, my God, I dont know. Honestly, Anna was playing great. She was getting all these risky balls in like she once did against me in Dubai. So, I just wanted to make less mistakes, because I felt like I was playing well. I felt like I had nothing to lose because I was losing pretty badly. So, at the end (of the first set) I just went for it, because what more can I do?" Swiatek said afterward.
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Had Kalinskaya won, she would have made her first US Open round-of-16.
