'Seems a bit one-sided': Cincinnati quarter-finalist questions WTA's scheduling after 2:40am finish
- Christian Montegan
- 2 days ago
- 2 min read
A hard-fought three-set battle in Cincinnati has come at a cost for former world No.11 Anna Kalinskaya, who has received a harsh scheduling outcome following an early morning finish.
The 26-year-old progressed to the quarter-finals of the WTA 1000 event after taking out 12th seed Elise Mertens 3-6, 7-6(5), 6-1, with the two-hour and 18-minute match ending at 2:40am local time.
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Kalinskaya will have to get past six-time Grand Slam winner Iga Świątek for a spot in the last four.
However, her task has been dealt with an unwanted curveball after discovering that the match will commence at 11am (Saturday 1am AEST), despite barely getting any sleep less than 48 hours prior.
Kalinskaya posted a message on her Instagram story, tagging the official WTA account, where she used the platform to question the odd decision.
"How can the WTA and the tournament expect athletes to perform their best when the scheduling is this unfair?" she wrote.
"After my match against Alexandrova, I got home from the site at 2:40am and didn't go to bed until 4am. I slept a bit and came to the site to practice. Then I get scheduled at 11am for tomorrow's match - how does the tournament and WTA expect me to recover and continuously adjust my sleep pattern, which is one of the most important aspects of recovery? Seems a bit one-sided."
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Last year, Kalinskaya won the pair's only ever meeting in straight sets in Dubai.
On the men's side, world No.1 Jannik Sinner qualified for the Cincinnati Masters semi-finals, a few hours before Ben Shelton and Jiří Lehečka still had to contest their fourth round match.
The tournament has been hampered by multiple rain delays throughout the first week.
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