The Australian Open Women’s Singles created history this year by having six of its former champions in the main draw. While Sabalenka is the defending champion, who looks in incredible touch this year too, the race to dethrone her is on by any and every new, young player. In that race, one of the two Anna Kalinskaya of Russia and Sloane Stephens of America have to bid goodbye very soon. But who will it be?
Kalinskaya and Stepehens are scheduled to play against each other in the Third Round of Section 3 at the Majors. Both these tennis stars are having a romp at the AO this year, winning both their matches convincingly.
Kalinskaya played her second-round game against Dutch tennis player Arantxa Ruus. The Russian star won the game by 6-1, 7-5 with three aces as compared to Russ’ one. She also led in other aspects such as break points, first serve, and receiving points. Before that, Kalinskaya played Katie Volynets of America in the first round. She won by 6-3, 3-6, 6-2.
Stephens too enjoyed her time in the middle against Daria Kasatkina of Russia in the second round. After losing the first set 4-6, she bounced back to win the next two 6-3, 6-3. Although Stephens comfortably won it, the match was very close in statistics, with barely any margin of difference. Both of them had equal win percentages in first and second serve, while Stephens lagged on aces. Before that, she also won her match against Olivia Gadecki of Australia quite comfortably. The score was 6-3, 6-1.
Either player who wins among them will face the winner between Anna Blinkova and Jasmine Paolini. As per recent performances, it looks like Stephens has the edge over Kalinskaya. Stephens has been playing at the top level for nearly 17 years now, as compared to Kalinskaya’s 10. She is a former US Open champion and a semi-finalist at Majors. Whereas, Kalinskaya has reached the Australian Open third round for the first time in her career.
Head-to-head between Sloane Stephens and Anna Kalinskaya
Stephens leads in the world with 44 ahead of Kalinskaya’s 75 in the ATP Rankings. Their AO encounter will be the third time they play each other in their careers. The last two times they faced each other, they both won 1-1 each.
Stephens and Kalinskaya played each other at the 2019 US Open Round 1 for the first time. Kalinskaya beat the favorite Sloane Stephens in her home country 6-3, 6-4, and caused an upset. It was a convincing win, one that was avenged by Stephens the next time they met together. In 2022 in Guadalajara, Stephens won the match against Kalinskaya after the Russian retired mid-game. The score was 3-6, 7-5, with each winning a set, before Kalinskaya bowed out.
Expect Sloane Stephens to proceed to the next round with a straights sets victory over Anna Kalinskaya.
