Anhelina Kalinina retires due to injury, Elena Rybakina wins the Italian Open final
Posted : 21 May 2023
With her victory at the Italian Open, Kazakhstan's Elena Rybakina won her fourth WTA championship, forcing Anhelina Kalinina to quit due to a leg injury.
Rybakina, the Wimbledon winner, held a 6-4, 1-0 advantage over her Ukrainian opponent when she quit the game in tears after 65 minutes with strapping on her left leg.
This was Rybakina's third walkover triumph of the Rome competition.
The victory places the 23-year-old in the top four seeds for the French Open, which gets off on May 28 at Roland Garros.
Rain delayed play on centre court for the most of the day, delaying the start of the final.
Kalinina, who was competing in her first WTA 1,000 final, got out to a fast start by breaking Rybakina in the first game and held her own serve to take a 2-0 lead.
While Kalinina resigned just one game into the second set, world number six Rybakina broke again to win the opening set 6-4 despite her opponent saved four break opportunities in the eighth game.
"I'm really sorry that I couldn't play. I was trying to do my best," Kalinina, 26, said in her post-match interview.
"Congratulations for the title and everything you have done this year, it's really inspiring and hopefully I can get to your level someday."
Rybakina is the third player in the Open era to reach finals at the Australian Open, Indian Wells, Miami and Rome in the same season.
Prior to Maria Sharapova doing the same in 2012, Monica Seles accomplished the feat in 1991.
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