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Match Details
Fixture: (Q) Anna Kalinskaya vs Jasmine Paolini
Date: February 24, 2024
Tournament: Dubai Tennis Championships 2024
Round: Final
Venue: Aviation Club Tennis Centre, Dubai
Category: WTA 1000
Surface: Outdoor Hardcourt
Prize money: $3,211,715
Live telecast: USA - Tennis Channel | UK - Sky Sports | Canada - TSN
Anna Kalinskaya vs Jasmine Paolini preview
Qualifier Anna Kalinskaya will lock horns with Jasmine Paolini for the 2024 Dubai Tennis Championships title on Saturday.
Kalinskaya came through the qualifying rounds with wins over Rebeka Masarova and Kamila Rakhimova. She then knocked out Storm Hunter, Cristina Bucsa, and Jelena Ostapenko in the next three rounds. She rallied from a set down to defeat Coco Gauff 2-6, 6-4, 6-2 in the quarterfinals.
Kalinskaya was up against World No. 1 Iga Swiatek in the semifinals. The Russian fell behind 4-2 in the opening set but bagged the next four games to snatch the set.
Kalinskaya broke Swiatek's serve twice in the second set to go 5-2 up. The former failed to close out the match on her first go as the latter mounted a comeback. However, the 25-year-old later fended off two more break points and wrapped up the match on her second attempt for a 6-4, 6-4 win.
Paolini staged a comeback to oust Beatriz Haddad Maia 4-6, 6-4, 6-0 in the first round. She next ousted Leylah Fernandez and Maria Sakkari in straight sets and got a walkover from Elena Rybakina in the quarterfinals.
Paolini took on Sorana Cirstea for a spot in the championship round. The Italian didn't encounter any resistance from her opponent in the first set as she claimed the opener courtesy of a double break advantage.
Paolini led by a break twice in the second set but couldn't hold on to the lead. She even had a match point on Cirstea's serve at 5-4 but wasted that as well. The Romanian then got broken to trail 6-5.
Cirstea served for the set and had five set points but Paolini saved all of them to force a tie-break. The latter came out on top in it to score a 6-2, 7-6 (6) victory.
Anna Kalinskaya vs Jasmine Paolini head-to-head
The two have split their previous couple of meetings evenly to tie the head-to-head at 1-1. Kalinskaya won their most recent encounter at the 2024 Australian Open in straight sets.
Anna Kalinskaya vs Jasmine Paolini odds
(Odds are sourced from BetMGM)
Anna Kalinskaya vs Jasmine Paolini prediction
Both have now made it to the biggest final of their careers and for Kalinskaya, it's also her first singles final at the WTA level. She has dropped only one set this week, which was against Gauff in the semifinals. It's even more impressive considering she contested the qualifying rounds too.
As the underdog against Swiatek, Kalinskaya played a great match and even survived a late surge from the World No. 1 towards the end. It was her third straight win over a top-10 player this week.
Paolini has eliminated some top players en route to the final as well. The second set of her semifinal against Cirstea was a close one, but Paolini proved her mettle as she turned things around in the nick of time.
Kalinskaya's clean and precise ball striking proved to be too much to handle for Paolini when they crossed paths at last month's Australian Open. Having faced a higher caliber of players and being more battle-tested, the Russian will be favored to lay her hands on the winner's trophy.
Pick: Anna Kalinskaya to win in straight sets.
