PARIS — Anna Kalinskaya surprised herself after defeating Anastasia Potapova 6-4, 2-6, 7-6 (10-7) to reach her first French Open quarterfinal.
The Russian had not expected to get this far.
“Thinking two weeks ago that I will be here, I wouldn’t believe it,” she said. “I would probably laugh with my team.”
Perhaps setting a low bar has helped her play more freely in the opening rounds.
“I just take this clay season very easy mentally. I don’t put too much pressure to do well. I guess it helps,” the No. 22 seed said. “I didn’t have any expectations on clay for myself.”
Their contest on Court Suzanne-Lenglen stretched to almost three hours after Potapova failed to serve out the match twice in the decider and Kalinskaya overturned a 4-1 deficit in the super tiebreak.
“I’m super proud, and I can’t believe it,” Kalinskaya said. “The match was so long, so I’m still processing what’s going on.”
It will be Kalinskaya’s second quarterfinal at a major beside the 2024 Australian Open.
Despite pre-tournament men’s favorite Jannik Sinner losing in the second round, Italian fans will have at least one player in the quarterfinals.
Tenth-seeded Flavio Cobolli advanced to his second Grand Slam quarterfinal — and his first here — after beating American Zachary Svajda 6-2, 6-3, 6-7 (3), 7-6 (5).
“It’s for sure my favorite Grand Slam to play,” Cobolli said after winning on Court Philippe-Chatrier. “We have the best feeling with the surface as Italians.”
A little while after his win, Cobolli — a former youth soccer player at Italian club Roma — joined players from the Paris Saint-Germain team as they paraded the Champions League trophy on Chatrier. PSG beat Arsenal in the final.
His next opponent will be the winner of a fourth-round match between No. 4 seed Felix Auger-Aliassime and unseeded Alejandro Tabilo.
Big-serving Matteo Berrettini, the other remaining Italian, faces Juan Manuel Cerundolo.
But French hopes are over following Diane Parry’s 6-3, 6-2 loss to Maja Chwalinska of Poland. There are also no more Americans in the women’s draw after Madison Keys lost to Diana Shnaider 6-3, 3-6, 6-0.
Later, top-ranked Aryna Sabalenka, last year’s runner-up, takes on Naomi Osaka in a match between four-time Grand Slam winners. It is the first women’s night match at the French Open in three years.
