Iga Świątek’s quarterfinal opponent Anna Kalinskaya was far from pleased with the scheduling of their Cincinnati Open clash. The match between the two is scheduled to take place at 11 am on August 15.
Anna Kalinskaya Criticizes WTA on Cincinnati QF Scheduling
Kalinskaya booked her place in the last eight of the Cincinnati Open after a hard-fought 3-6, 7-6(5), 6-1 win over 12th seed Ekaterina Alexandrova in a match that had a late-night finish.
The Russian will next face Iga Świątek in a quarterfinal that will start at 11 am local time. Kalinskaya was far from pleased with the scheduling and called it unfair. She took to her Instagram stories to criticize the WTA, stating:
“How can the WTA and tournament expect athletes to perform their best when the scheduling is this unfair? 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,” she added.
All four women’s singles quarterfinals in Cincinnati will take place on August 15, and the matches featuring Iga Świątek and Anna Kalinskaya, and Aryna Sabalenka and Elena Rybakina will take place during the day session. Coco Gauff’s match with Jasmine Paolini and the fourth quarterfinal are both scheduled for the night session, since their matches took place during the previous day and none of the four players will have a day off.
Anna Kalinskaya is not the first tennis player to speak out on their match’s scheduling as just days back, Alejandro Davidovich Fokina also lashed out at ATP for his Canadian Open clash taking place at 11 am.
MORE: Iga Świątek vs. Anna Kalinskaya Preview: Head-to-Head and Prediction for Cincinnati Open 2025
Brad Gilbert’s Comments on Iga Świątek’s Cincinnati Matches Starting at 11 am
Iga Świątek has played two matches so far at the Cincinnati Open both started at 11 am and noted tennis coach Brad Gilbert gave his take on the matter, stating:
“You don’t even have to lookat schedule and Know Iga Pop on 1st at 11am. Wonder if her team ask for that or just happens that way a lot.”
you don’t even have to look 👀 at schedule and Know Iga Pop on 1st at 11am 🕚 wonder 💭 if her team ask for that or just happens that way a lot
— Brad Gilbert (@bgtennisnation) August 13, 2025
Iga Świątek and Anna Kalinskaya have only had one prior encounter which came during the semifinals of the Dubai Tennis Championships. The Russian won that match 6-4, 6-4 to reach her maiden WTA 1000 final before losing to Jasmine Paolini.
Whoever out of Świątek and Kalinskaya comes out on top, will take on either top seed Aryna Sabalenka or ninth seed Elena Rybakina in the semifinals of the Cincinnati Open.
