Russian tennis star Anna Kalinskaya was knocking at the doors of the Top 10 last year, but this year she has struggled a bit so far. She has played 33 matches in the 2025 season and has won just 18 out of them as of now. Previously, her best performance in this season came at the Singapore Tennis Open, where she reached the SF. However, she has now got a strong start to her campaign at the North American hard-court swing.

Kalinskaya defeated the likes of in-form Clara Tauson and Emma Raducanu on her way to the final of the Citi Open this year. But in the final, she was defeated by Canada’s Leylah Fernandez in that match by 6-1,6-2. Missing that close chance of securing her first title of the season, Anna Kalinskaya appeared at the Canadian Open. But over there, she went down to Elina Svitolina in the R32 itself. However, she has been quite impressive at the Cincinnati Open as of now. After defeating the American duo, Peyton Stearns and Amanda Anisimova, in the first two matches, she has now secured a three-set triumph over Russia’s Ekaterina Alexandrova.

But other than her incredible 3-6,7-6(5),6-1 win in the R16, a bizarre incident in this match has now become the talk of the town in the tennis world. There was a moment in this match when some disruptive people in the crowd forced a brief pause. Anna Kalinskaya was seen heading towards the chair umpire, asking, “I think maybe they’re drunk or something…” In reply, the umpire said, “They probably are.” Certainly, the Russian didn’t look too pleased with this incident, but nevertheless, she still managed to keep her focus intact in this duel and come up with an impressive victory.

This wasn’t the first time that we’ve witnessed players complaining about fans for being drunk during a match. At the 2015 Wimbledon Championships, there was a moment when we saw Victoria Azarenka questioning the fans and accusing them of being drunk when they started laughing at the two players (Victoria and Serena) during play. 

Even on the ATP side, players have faced these types of incidents several times during their matches. For example, during the 2024 French Open, David Goffin complained about unruly fan behavior at the tournament, specifically mentioning a drunk fan who spat chewing gum at him. Not everyone is like Novak Djokovic, who would crack a joke amid all these disruptions!

During the 2025 AO, the Serb had to deal with a “drunk” heckler who had been troubling him a bit during the match and after it. Seeing the fan yelling at him during his on-court interview, Djokovic cracked a joke saying, “Sorry mate, I’ve a wife. We can have a drink, though. Maybe you’ve had a few already. Him and I were going back and forth for quite a while. Actually, I’m happy to have a drink with him now that the match is over. I think we can reflect nicely on what we said to each other during the match (laughs).“

Different players take different approaches in dealing with these things! But coming back to Anna Kalinskaya, a win in the R16 has now ensured her a faceoff with the world number 3, Iga Swiatek, in the QF. What does Kalinskaya have to say about that match?

Anna Kalinskaya shares her thoughts on facing the Wimbledon champion, Iga Swiatek

Currently ranked 34th in the world, Anna Kalinskaya had a 0-6 record against Ekaterina Alexandrova. With this win, she has not only managed to open her account against her compatriot, but she has now also reached the QF of the Cincinnati Open for the very first time in her career. Kalinskaya has won 9 of her last 11 matches, but can she keep this winning run intact?

This will be her second meeting with Iga Swiatek. She had previously won her SF match against the Pole at the 2024 Dubai Tennis Championships by 6-4,6-4. Swiatek will be keen to take her revenge against Anna Kalinskaya in this match.

But sharing her thoughts about this epic faceoff, Kalinskaya said, “I’m excited. I hope it’s gonna be a great level. Iga is such a fighter. I have no idea what time I play. I mean, I play today. Maybe I should rest in the locker room.”

Anna Kalinskaya has been running the headlines for various reasons at the 2025 Cincinnati Open. Before this incident featuring the drunk man, some controversial remarks that were made by a commentator during her second-round match against Peyton Stearns had created a bit of buzz among the fans. The commentator speculated that since Sinner and Kalinskaya’s breakup earlier this year, he had observed the Italian meeting up with American star Emma Navarro, his US Open mixed doubles partner.

Not only that, she bizarrely questions whether this interaction was playing on Anna Kalinskaya’s mind. Hearing this, tennis bigwig Rennae Stubbs took a jibe at the commentator, saying those comments were “awful“, claiming he can “do better.” Amid all these, how impressed have you been with Anna Kalinskaya’s performance at the Cincinnati Open, though?