“She’s a great player,” said Kalinskaya, who came from 4-2 down in the first set and who held off a brave fightback from Swiatek in the second. “I knew if I didn’t stay calm and play aggressive, she would destroy me. I’m happy I was able to do that.”
Swiatek led 4-2 in the first set but made too many unforced errors as Kalinskaya picked up where she left off against Gauff in the previous round.
At 6-4, 5-2, 40-15, the match looked over but Swiatek rallied impressively, breaking back and then having two chances to level at 5-5. But Kalinskaya came up with some bold play to save them and then finished things off with a superb drive volley.
Ahead of her victory, the Russian won against Australian qualifier Storm Hunter (6-1, 6-2), Spanish lucky loser Cristina Bucsa (6-3, 6-4), Latvian Jelena Ostapenko, the No 9 seed (6-4, 7-5) and American Coco Gauff, the No 3 seed (2-6, 6-4, 6-2).
Swiatek, ranked No 1, defeated American Sloane Stephens (6-4, 6-4), Ukrainian Elina Svitolina, the No 15 seed (6-1, 6-4) and Chinese Qinwen Zheng, the No 6 seed (6-3, 6-2) earlier in the tournament.
Dubai WTA 1000, other semi-final result (The Aviation Club Tennis Centre, hard, USD 3.211.715):
