Kalinskaya through to Berlin final as injury list grows; Tomljanovic reaches Birmingham summit clash to end five-year wait

Anna Kalinskaya beat Victoria Azarenka 6-1, 6-7(3), 6-1 in a see-saw semifinal on Saturday in the Berlin WTA tournament.

Kalinskaya raced through the first set in 26 minutes. After Azarenka went 4-1 up in the second set, Kalinskaya fought back to force a tiebreak which she lost.

Kalinskaya again galloped through the third set, and was only slowed at 5-1 when Azarenka saved three match points from 40-0, but two unreturned serves sealed the victory.

The day had started with three quarterfinals delayed by rain from the day before, two were cut short as Aryna Sabalenka and Ons Jabeur joined the procession of injured stars limping off the grass in the Wimbledon warm-up event.

Kalinskaya was one of the beneficiaries as second-seeded Belarusian Sabalenka retired trailing 5-1 in the first set.

Eighth-seeded Jabeur had gone toe-to-toe with top seed Coco Gauff before losing a one-hour 14 minute first set in a tiebreak 11/9 before packing her rackets in her bag and walking off.

“It doesn’t feel like a win,” said Gauff on court. “Especially as we had such a great first set.”

“It’s not the way you want to finish a match, especially with someone who is so nice on and off the court.”

Gauff said the Tunisian had indicated she was not seriously injured.

“I know she’s going to feel better tomorrow and should be fine for Wimbledon.”

Trailing 4-1, Sabalenka called a medical timeout to have her shoulder and neck treated. She played on for one game before stopping. It was the first time the Belarusian had retired injured in a WTA tournament, said the women’s tennis body.

On Thursday, reigning Wimbledon champion Marketa Vondrousova retired with a right hip injury from her second-round match, also against Kalinskaya.

On Friday, former Wimbledon champion Elena Rybakina pulled out while trailing Victoria Azarenka in the quarterfinals.

In the second semifinal, Gauff will face compatriot Jessica Pegula who finished off Czech Katerina Siniakova 7-6(2), 3-6, 6-3 on Saturday. The fourth-seeded American had led 4-2 in the third set when rain halted play on Friday.

Gauff said her training regime prepared her to play twice in one day.

“I’ll be ready for later today,” said Gauff.

Tomljanovic reaches first WTA final in five years

Australia’s Ajla Tomljanovic reached her first WTA final in five years with a straight sets win over Russia’s Anastasia Potapova at the Birmingham grass-court tournament.

The former world number 32, now ranked 190, came through against the seventh seed 7-6(5), 6-4.

In Sunday’s final, Tomljanovic will face fellow unseeded player Yulia Putintseva after the Kazakh eased to a 6-2, 6-2 win over Italy’s Elisabetta Cocciaretto.

“I just tried to keep a cool head. I felt like I was a bit too into it at the beginning, and I felt like I was losing a lot of energy just caring about every single point,” Tomljanovic said.

“I just tried to let go whatever happened, and focus on what I can control.”

Tomljanovic last reached a WTA final in 2019 on hard courts in Hua Hin, Thailand.

The 31-year-old missed much of the 2023 season due to knee surgery and is bidding for her first title in her 180th WTA main draw.