Kanepi first into Washington, D.C. semi-finals
Kaia Kanepi is through to the Washington, D.C. semi-finals after outlasting Anna Kalinskaya in a three-set thriller on Friday. Either Daria Saville or Rebecca Marino is next for the Estonian.
Kaia Kanepi competes at the Australian Open 2022 AI / Reuters / panoramic
Kaia Kanepi, the No 6 seed, defeated Russia’s Anna Kalinskaya 6-7(4), 6-4, 6-3 to advance to the last four at the Citi Open on Friday afternoon. In what has been a tournament plagued by rain, Kanepi became the first player to book her spot in the semi-finals.
The Estonian advanced after two hours and 41 minutes.
Comeback Kaia!@KanepiKaia becomes the first player from Estonia to reach the semifinals at the #CitiOpen defeating Kalinskaya 6-7(4), 6-4, 6-3 pic.twitter.com/GVn54lnCED
— Mubadala Citi DC Open (@mubadalacitidc) August 5, 2022
Kanepi, ranked No 37, will face the winner of the upcoming match between Australia’s Daria Saville and Canadian qualifier Rebecca Marino.
The 37-year-old beat Belgian Greet Minnen 6-3, 6-3 and edged out China’s Lin Zhu 4-6, 6-4, 6-4 earlier in the tournament. In the previous rounds Kalinskaya, ranked No 71, defeated American Madison Brengle 6-3, 6-0 before getting a retirement from Romania’s Simona Halep, the No 3 seed. Kalinskaya led Halep 7-5, 2-0 when it ended.
