An extra-long match

Purge to be expected?

Not sure this is much of a gift for the Russian Kalinskaya. Despite clearly superior pure technique, I think Kartal can give her a real headache. Personally, I hate this kind of profile that spends the whole time pushing the opponent to the limit to make her crack and scrape points. Kartal excels at the art of getting the ball back into the court, with a solid but fairly standard game.

It has to be said that she’s doing it better and better and that she now brings a bit of variation in phases. That said, it’s still rare to see her really step away from her baseline. Her serve is also effective. Kalinskaya will have to be crafty and tactically smart to get through this, but she may be shaken right from the start, because Kartal needs to gain the psychological upper hand very early in the match.

Luckily for the Russian, she doesn’t get angry or frustrated easily, stays pretty grounded in the present moment, but she’ll need to stay alert, because with Kartal, everything can change very quickly. I’ve always had trouble reading this player, but after watching her more and more, I’m starting to get a better sense of her game.

A scenario where Kartal takes the first set is not out of the question, helped by the surface, before a reaction and adjustments from Kalinskaya allow her to come out of it with her head held high. She’s still a benchmark on hard courts, but a player who regularly drops sets.