Anhelina Kalinina criticizes the WTA Rome board: "We had no other choice"



by LORENZO CIOTTI

Anhelina Kalinina criticizes the WTA Rome board: "We had no other choice"

The decision to start the Rome women's final at 11 pm and Anhelina Kalinina's current physical conditions after her forced withdrawal from her match against the Kazakh Elena Rybakina. These two were the topics most touched upon by the Ukrainian in the press conference, after the final act she lost due to cramps and a physical problem that forced her to retire at the beginning of the second set.

The Ukrainian team attacked the organizers of the Internazionali d'Italia in Rome over the decision to play late on Saturday 20 May, according to her. "As I understood we had no other choice, because they already had the complete program on Sunday.

They couldn't fit us in," is what the athlete points out. An issue that deserves further investigation, given that according to some sources the two players would have been consulted and would have given the go-ahead to play the match in the evening.

Kalinina's condition

Kalinina explained: "I felt like I was at the limit physically. I was trying but it was absolutely impossible. I am very proud of my fighting spirit in these two weeks. I was fighting despite the score of several races, any situation and any weather condition as well as against every opponent.

I'm still proud of this result, even though I couldn't finish the match. But both weeks were great for me. I think it was the tiredness. Definitely right now we have no intention of playing and of working. I will take four days completely off just to recover.

After I got off the pitch, I almost fell in the locker room because my leg started to have big cramps. So it was definitely a correct decision to retire, I couldn't go any further." About her Rybakina spoke about her chances of winning Roland Garros: "Anyone can win in Paris, but she has good chances."

Anhelina Kalinina Wta Rome