A streak of five consecutive wins, claiming the title right after returning, Kalinina boosts her confidence with victory

It is widely recognized that injuries are an unavoidable part of a tennis player's career, with some causing players to be sidelined for long durations. Even worse, some injuries can prematurely end a player’s professional journey. Last week, one player returned to competition after half a year away. Who exactly is this player? And how did she fare last week? Let this article take you through the story.

This player is Ukrainian Kalinina, who once reached the final of a WTA 1000 event and has demonstrated considerable skill. However, for various reasons, after an early exit at the Bari Challenger in Italy in early June, Kalinina took a break from competition until last week, when she appeared at the Limoges Challenger.

In the first round, she faced Liechtenstein’s Von Deichmann. Kalinina played exceptionally well, allowing her opponent to win only four games throughout the match, securing her first victory since returning and advancing smoothly to the second round. There, she met the tournament’s fourth seed, British player Katar. Katar reached her first Grand Slam round of 16 at Wimbledon this year and is quite formidable. The first set went to a tiebreak, where Kalinina edged out to claim the set. However, Katar fought back in the second set, forcing a decider. In the final set, Kalinina gave nothing away, delivering a break of serve herself and narrowly winning the match to reach the quarterfinals.

In the quarterfinals, her opponent was the fifth seed, American player Parks, who has previously reached the round of 32 in a Grand Slam and is a strong competitor. Indeed, the match was tightly contested, only decided in the final set. With greater experience in big matches, Kalinina overcame Parks in the decider to advance to the semifinals. Notably, this marked her second time reaching a tour-level semifinal in the 2025 season. In the semis, she faced the top seed, Spain’s Bucsa, who had reached a tour final earlier this year and was in good form. However, Kalinina dominated the match, winning convincingly 6–4, 6–3 to reach the final.

In the final, Kalinina faced the second seed, French player Jacquemot. Having defeated Jacquemot three times before, Kalinina held a psychological edge. The match was a tough three-set battle, but Kalinina ultimately triumphed, claiming her first title since returning. More importantly, this five-match winning streak restored her long-lost confidence. We can expect her to achieve strong results in 2026. Let’s look forward to it! That’s the tennis story for today; more to come tomorrow.(Source: Tennis Home, Author: Yixin Jushi)